


Happy Together

by Natileroxs



Category: My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dimension Travel, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-10-29 06:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 36,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20791793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natileroxs/pseuds/Natileroxs
Summary: Gerard is happy living with his father and his one friend who he also has a big crush on. It doesn't matter that he hasn't seen his distant brother in three years, he doesn't mind.But when he meets two girls who seem way too interested in him and receives a visit from said distant brother, things get out of hand very fast.





	1. Kiss Me Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Happy Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27003991) by [ktsuishere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktsuishere/pseuds/ktsuishere)
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, i've got a lot of material for this. quite a bit of it is written up already, but i'm gonna upload every day/two days until it's finished. because i really want to get this out there

Gerard only has one friend. Sad, right? But anyway, he’s there with his one friend and he’s content. Well, as content as one can be while having only one friend who you’re also secretly in love with without any chance of those feelings being reciprocated.

But he’s okay. He has his dad, and sure, he’s not that close to his brother and hasn’t seen him in three years, but so what, at least he’s not stuck with his strict mother. At least he’s not stuck at a stuffy boarding school with stiff uniforms and rules. 

Not that he doesn’t think rules are necessary, because they are. You have to set some sort of guideline as to what should happen in a crowded environment or it would all amount to chaos. 

Speaking of chaos, that’s all his best friend is. Best friend? If you’ve only got one friend, do they even count as a  _ ‘best friend’ _ ? Whatever, he’s going to count it. Frank, his one  _ ‘best friend’ _ , embodies pure chaos in every shape and form. Frank doesn’t care if he gets detention for two weeks for socking two guys in the face after they’d blatantly insulted Gerard, right in front of him, several times. 

Gerard had smiled, however small it was, and received a wide grin from Frank, despite the blood dripping out his nose and catching at his lips. Gerard had stayed with his best friend the whole time he was in the nurse’s office, feeling a tiny bit responsible for it. But there is nothing he can do. Frank always does that, sticks up for him. The guy is a little protective over him in all honesty. Not that he really minds. 

Frank doesn’t care what happens as long as he has his way and Gerard is happy. Sometimes Gerard doesn’t know how to feel about that. 

He lives with his dad, and usually, it’s just the two of them. Frank will join them for dinner occasionally, or just hang around up in Gerard’s room while Gerard draws or reads. They spend so much time together and are so close, yet… 

Gerard is so in love with his best friend that it’s not funny. Frank is one of the best people in existence, and he’s so out of Frank’s league. He’s just a shy kid who’d rather be curled up with his sketchbook or a comic book than get drunk at a party. He’s not popular, he’s not well-liked, both of which Frank is. 

Most days go like this, he wakes up, rushes to school, goes to each of his individual classes and tries to pay attention, and then spends the rest of his time following Frank around like a lost puppy. Today isn’t supposed to be any different.

“Gee?” Frank is waving one of his hands in front of Gerard’s face. He blinks and shakes his head. 

“Huh? What did you say?”

Frank sighs dramatically and then points away from them. “I said that  _ she _ is looking at you.” 

A girl is staring at him from across the hall, dark hair falling down past her shoulders. She has her arm around a somewhat shorter girl, who also has dark hair. The two girls look like a stark contrast of one another, one with heels and ruby red lipstick and the other with a hoodie and sneakers. But both of them are pretty. And both are staring right at him. 

He flashes them an awkward smile and goes back to staring at his feet.

“Dude, the hot, new chick is staring at you and you look away? Get over there.” Frank gives him a small shove and he only stumbles a little before hesitantly making his way over to the two girls. The taller one, the one that watches closely as he approaches, suddenly reaches forward and grabs him by his shoulders, pulling him towards her. He’s frozen as she presses a kiss to his cheek right in front of the whole hall. 

Everyone’s looking at him now. Frank’s mouth is agape and the girl’s friend is smiling up at him before she kisses him on the opposite cheek. 

He blushes and steps away. Before he can run, and then die of embarrassment, the first girl holds out her hand. He takes it and she shakes firmly, before gesturing for him to do the same with her friend. 

“I’m Lindsey, and this is Jamia. Nice to meet you, Gerard Way.” 

He nods and dashes down the hall, hearing what he assumes is Frank following him. Once in the bathroom, he breathes heavily and clutches tightly to the sink. 

It doesn’t occur to him until much later that he has no idea how they know his name. 

* * *

“She was just like, bam! Kiss right on the cheek. She barely said a word to you.” Frank gestures wildly while Gerard sits on the back corner of his bed, knees up and sketchbook propped up on those. Frank flops back down onto the bed and spreads out as much as possible. “Then the other girl did it! Like, damn, you got two new girls smacking their lips on your cheeks first time you meet them.”

Gerard bites his lip at Frank’s comments and is just about to say something when Frank continues. 

“You didn’t even say a word to them, dude. Dead silent. I mean, of course you were shocked, because everyone was, but you couldn’t have said ‘hi’ or something?” 

Gerard shrugs. “I don’t know… why would they…”

“Because they noticed how great of an ass you have.” 

Gerard hides his blush behind his sketchbook but Frank doesn’t even look at him. He just keeps going. 

“Seriously, Gee, those girls knew what to look for.”    
  


“Frank…”

Frank shrugs. “So… did you even get their names?”

Gerard thinks back to the encounter, which he’d been avoiding thinking about, aside from Frank’s constant babbling about it. “Uh, the taller one was Lindsey, the shorter one was Jamia… wait…”   
  


“What?”

“Uh… nothing.” He shakes his head. It’s probably nothing. She might have overheard someone say it, or maybe she just… guessed?

Whatever it is, he’s not going to mention it. 

“Okay, so, Lindsey and Jamia. A pair of cute chicks called Lindsey and Jamia get you to go over to them and then they both-”

“Can we… not talk about this anymore?” Gerard asks because he really doesn’t want to think about this anymore. Frank huffs in disappointment just in time for Gerard’s father to call up that dinner is ready. They both descend the stairs and Gerard’s dad is waiting for both of them. 

“Frank, are you staying for dinner?” The man asks and Frank shrugs. 

“Why not.” 

Dinner is unusually quiet and Gerard is sort of grateful for it. Until…

“Gerard kissed a girl today,” Frank blurts out. Gerard blushes as his father gives him a questioning look. 

“No, no… she… she kissed me. On the cheek,” he stutters and his father nods in understanding. 

Yeah, there’s the other thing. He’s gay. Like, really gay. Except, that’s one of the things that Frank  _ doesn’t _ know about him. Not that he’d have a problem with it, Frank himself isn’t exactly the straightest guy, but Gerard has just never told him. Never found the right time, right place, right reason. And anyway, if Frank knew he liked guys, he’d figure out that Gerard has a crush on him and then be absolutely disgusted in him. 

Gerard doesn’t want that. 

He honestly wishes that he could have someone other than his dad to confide in about that sort of shit. His love life, crushes, that sort of thing. He can’t tell Frank any of that. 

God, if only he and Mikey were closer. 

“Her friend kissed him too.” Frank gushes and Gerard hides his face in his hands, praying for this all to just be over already. 

After an uncomfortable conversation he attempts to drown out, dinner is over and he’s saying goodbye to Frank at the door. 

“Thanks for dinner Mr. Way!” He calls and gets a  _ ‘no problem’ _ and an  _ ‘any time Frank’ _ and of course the obligatory  _ ‘always a pleasure having you’ _ . 

“Hey…” Frank hums. He looks like he wants to say something before he shakes his head. “See you at school.”

Gerard sends him a shy smile and nods. “Yeah, bye.” 

He listens to Frank’s loud footsteps as he jumps in puddles and runs down the pathway. He then feels his father put his arm around his shoulder and pull him back inside, shutting the door behind them. 

“Did two girls really kiss you, Gerard?” 

He nods. 

His dad shakes his head and pats him on the shoulder. “Maybe you can befriend them?” 

Gerard shrugs. “Maybe.” 

* * *

He can’t sleep, not while the thoughts of those two girls still plague his mind. He lies awake, eyes wide open, when he hears murmurs from down the hall. He can hear his father’s raised voice, and his eyebrows crinkle in confusion. He slides out of bed and tiptoes to the door, listening through the wood. 

_ “No, I don’t know! Why would I… No... why would he… damn it!”  _ His father huffs right at the end and he can hear a phone slam down on the bench. He cringes at the sound of glass cracking as the phone smashes on the surface. He hurries back to bed and ducks his head under the covers when he hears the door swing open. He feigns sleep as his father adjusts the covers to sit under his chin, praying that he can’t hear Gerard’s pounding heart. 

When he finally hears the door click closed, he relaxes. He then curls up and tries not to think of what he’s just heard. It doesn’t make any sense, what  _ had _ he just heard? 

Whatever it is, he doesn’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole, and besides, he’s got more than enough on his plate at this moment in time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave comments please, tell me what you thought, any questions you have. i'm looking for a beta reader too, if anyone is interested


	2. Awkward Cereal Eating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two! chapters after this will be longer. 
> 
> NOT BETA READ

Gerard and Frank are having lunch under their normal tree when the two girls from yesterday, Lindsey and Jamia, walk over to them. Gerard pulls his book up to hide his face a little more. 

“Hi,” the shorter one, Jamia, says. “Can we sit with you two?” 

Frank flashes them both a grin, patting Gerard on the shoulder. “Sure, right Gee?”

“Uh…” He looks up and makes eye contact with Lindsey, who simply smiles at him. He nods slowly. “Okay.”

Lindsey settles beside him, not getting too close, and Jamia right next to her. They do get close, pretty much sitting on each other with hands intertwined. Frank stretches out further onto the grass and yawns. 

“Fuck, I’m tired.” 

Gerard can agree. He could barely sleep with all the thoughts running through his head. From the kisses to whatever his dad was saying on the phone, there had been a lot to think about or in better words, stress about. 

“Me too,” Jamia says and Lindsey hums in agreement. 

They don’t say much to each other after that, just enjoying each other’s company. The two girls are nice to hang out with, quiet and respectful of the dynamic that he and Frank have. 

By the end of lunch, he’s not even thinking about the weird kisses. The bell rings loud in his ears and Lindsey sighs, moving to stand before helping Jamia up. She then offers her hand to Gerard, pulling him to his feet and doing the same to Frank. 

“It was nice hanging out with both of you, hope we can do it again sometime, Gerard Way, Frank Iero.” 

He tries not to dwell on the fact that she also knows Frank’s name. And, it could have been worse, she could have said his full name, middle names and everything. So, Gerard tries his hardest not to think about it. 

* * *

Dinner goes much the same as the night before, except for the lack of awkward questions about Lindsey and Jamia. Frank waves goodbye and Gerard goes to bed relatively early compared to most people. 

It’s probably nearing midnight when he hears a commotion coming from downstairs. Doors slamming, shouting, and finally, crying. He holds his hands over his ears to block out the sounds, his heart pounding and body shaking in panic. He can then hear the front door slam and a car start up outside. Only once the sound of the motor has faded into the distance does he finally determine it safe for him to leave the comfort of his room and see what is going on. 

The hallway is dark, and so is the stairwell, but the kitchen light is on and the living room is dim but lit. His father is pacing and there’s someone lying on the sofa, but he can’t see them very well.

“Dad?” He curses his voice for breaking the uneasy silence. His father’s eyes immediately catch him and he sighs.

“Oh no, did we wake you?” 

_ We? _

“What…”

“You should go back to bed, Gerard.” His father moves to lead him out of the living room. But suddenly the figure on the sofa sits up and blinks at him. 

He doesn’t recognise the guy at first. His brown hair is longer and slicked back, with skinny jeans and a band t-shirt and converse sneakers, and he’s completely unrecognisable from the clean-cut, white shirt, black slacks boy that he remembers. 

It’s Mikey. 

Mikey stares him up and down, taking in Gerard’s bedhead and pyjamas, and then rushing forward, enveloping the stunned Gerard in a hug, and clinging tightly to him. 

Gerard looks at his dad for help, incredibly panicked. What is going on? Why is Mikey home, and hugging him close, and shaking, and why does he look like he does and what is happening?

Mikey is not the sweet, clingy little brother that he could’ve been. Gerard and Mikey’s relationship has always been pathetic, pretty much non-existent. Gerard has always wanted something more, but he’d always seen it as one of those impossible things he’d never get. 

Until now. Because even when he pulls away, Mikey’s still lingering close to Gerard, fingers twitching with the need to bite at his nails. 

“Dad? What’s going on? Why’s Mikey…”

He can’t help but make eye contact with his brother and what he sees is insane. There’s nervousness, of course, some panic, a little confusion, and a whole heap of brotherly love. 

“You both should go to sleep. We’ll work this out in the morning.” His father’s voice is firmer than before. “Michael, you can stay in the guest room while we get this sorted, yes?”

Mikey nods softly, and quietly tiptoes up the stairs. Gerard goes to follow him upstairs, so he can go to sleep and forget this happened and hope that it’s a dream. Because nothing makes sense and things aren’t supposed to make sense in dreams, are they? Maybe he’s lucid dreaming, aware of how ridiculous things are and aware that he’s actually dreaming?

His dad grabs his arm and tugs him down from where’s he’s begun ascending the stairs. Gerard sighs softly and turns back around. 

“What’s...?” 

It’s his dad’s turn to sigh. He rubs his eyes and gestures for Gerard to sit on the couch. The one Mikey has just vacated. And wow does that sound weird. Mikey hasn’t been home in such a long time it’s weird to think about him being in such close proximity. 

“Early this morning, I got a phone call from your mother.” Gerard thinks back to the conversation he overheard. “She said that he’d woken up in the middle of the night crying and screaming, and then refused to calm down until she went to see him…” His father trails off. 

  
“What?”   
  


“He… he asked for you.” 

“Me?” Now Gerard’s incredibly confused. Why would Mikey want him?

“Yes. She promised him that she would bring him home, and he fell back asleep. He didn’t wake up until around four this afternoon. Then she helped him pack some of his things to bring home.” He gestures to a suitcase Gerard hadn’t noticed. “He then begged her to take him shopping, refusing to wear his uniform correctly.” Well, that explains the clothes. “Then she drove him all the way here.” 

“But… why?”

His dad sighs softly and then pulls Gerard into a side hug. “I… I don’t know.” 

They sit in silence for a bit before his father turns to him again. “I’m going to take him to the doctor tomorrow, get him checked out. I’ll also call your school, tell them you’re dealing with family matters and that you’re taking the day off.” 

“What? Why?” Gerard asks.

“Because… you seem to be one of the only people that Mikey really trusts right now. I’m not sure why, but he does and that’s what we’re going to have to work with.” 

Gerard frowns and stands. “I’m… I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

His father simply nods and Gerard ascends the stairs to hear someone sniffling. He follows the sound to his bedroom and sees Mikey sitting there, on his bed, staring up at one of Gerard’s pieces of art and crying quietly. He looks up when he hears Gerard’s footsteps and wipes at the slow tears. 

“Sorry…” He moves to leave, looking down at the ground. Before he can leave, Gerard catches his arm, hesitantly. That’s all the invitation Mikey needs because he suddenly gives Gerard another fierce hug and then walks out the door without saying another word. 

Gerard doesn’t know what to do. So he just shuts the door, flops down onto his bed, and stares up at the ceiling until he inevitably falls asleep. 

* * *

In the morning he’s convinced himself that it was all a dream, but when he sees an unsure Mikey eating cereal at the table alongside his father, he has to take a step back and breathe. Mikey’s in better shape than the night prior. His fingers still shake when he brings the spoon to his mouth and his posture is still stiff and uncomfortable, but the outline of bags under his eyes are gone and his clothes aren’t as rumpled as they were before. 

“Hey, Gerard.” His father waves him to the table and he sits awkwardly in front of bowl previously set out for him. 

“‘Morning Gee…” It’s the first time Gerard’s heard Mikey’s voice since before he went away if you don’t count his barely registered ‘sorry’ from last night. He’s still as quiet as ever, but instead of silent obedience, his decreased volume is due to shyness. Nervousness. 

Gerard knows all about that. 

So he simply pours himself a bowl of cereal, eats quietly, and tries to stare discreetly at Mikey. He has a feeling that Mikey’s doing the exact same thing as him when he’s not looking. 

He quickly finishes breakfast and makes his way upstairs, feeling Mikey’s eyes follow him away. His phone is buzzing away, likely Frank asking where he is, but he can’t be bothered answering it right now. He just wants to rest. 

He lies in bed for about an hour before his dad ducks his head into his room to explain that he’s taking Mikey out to the doctor’s and that they’ll be back soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked. tell me what you think in the comments 
> 
> by the way  
Gerard looks like he does in the I'm Not Okay music video  
Frank looks like a mix of I'm Not Okay and Na Na Na music videos  
Mikey looks like a mix of I'm Not Okay and Desolation Row music videos  
Lindsey and Jamia don't have a specific era that I'm basing them on, so they can have any look you want.


	3. Mario Kart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frank's POV starts to appear. 
> 
> Not Beta Read
> 
> Long chapter - over 3500

Gerard’s away all day, which throws the loose explanation that he slept in out the window. He didn’t look sick and he would’ve said something if he was. Gerard doesn’t really keep things from Frank. 

And in all honesty, Frank’s glad that he doesn’t. It helps him keep track of Gerard’s emotions, his well being. It helps Frank help Gerard in any way he can. 

Gerard doesn’t answer his text messages in the morning, so he can’t sit still during class and halfway through the day, he just stops turning up to class altogether. Of course, he still hangs around school grounds, but he can’t bear being inside, the atmosphere stifling and in all essence, boring.

At lunch, he walks through the cafeteria and suddenly everyone wants him to sit with them.  _ Everyone _ . All people who wouldn’t give up the chance to stick their leg out and trip up Gerard, or purposely push the boy into the lockers in the hall. Every single time one of them waves him over or comes up to ask, he scowls at them, spits in their face, or pulls the finger as he makes his way out of the cafeteria with a pathetic excuse for a lunch. He sits under his and Gerard’s usual tree and tries not to feel too lonely, but it’s hard not to without Gerard at school. 

Lindsey and Jamia join him halfway into lunch, simply sitting and staring up at the sky. They don’t exchange words with him, but they’re not acting hostile in anyway towards him. He was afraid that Gerard was the only reason they wanted to hang around. The both of them being the first two people to really be nice to Gerard aside from Frank himself, he was extremely eager to keep them close. 

When the bell rings, he stays seated, and they both look over at him curiously. 

“Aren’t you going to class?” Jamia asks. 

“Nah.” He shakes his head. 

“Why?”

“Gee’s not here.” He states and spreads out on the grass. “So there’s no point.” 

Lindsey hums. “Do you know why he’s not here?” 

“Nope.” 

At his answer she sighs sadly and takes Jamia’s hand, leading her away. “Bye, Frank.”

Jamia waves. “See you tomorrow.” He nods. 

“You too.” 

The rest of the afternoon passes far too slowly. He manages to avoid being spotted by any teachers wandering around the grounds and eventually gives up staying at school altogether, humming a tune while he walks out the gate with two teachers glaring at him through the windows. 

He, instead, spends the rest of his time sifting through CDs at a store he and Gerard regularly frequent and then buying himself a candy bar to eat in the park. 

But it is just so boring, being by himself. If the other students at the school weren’t such assholes, he wouldn’t be having this problem. If Gerard had actually turned up to school today, he wouldn’t be having this problem. 

Thinking about his missing friend brings back a whole heap of worries. What on earth could be happening with Gerard for him to one; miss school and two; not text him back. Has Frank done something  _ wrong? _ He can’t recall anything he’s done in the last few days that would have resulted in Gerard being angry at him. 

Or… is Gerard physically unable to get to the phone. Is he so sick that he can’t move? That would be awful.

A dark thought crosses his mind, but he pushes it out of his head. If something bad  _ had _ happened to Gerard, his dad would have attempted to get in contact with Frank by now. But… perhaps he called the school or they were looking around for him and are worried about him. 

Then again, he  _ does _ have a cell phone, which they could call. 

Gerard is probably fine, Frank decides. He probably just didn’t charge his phone. 

Even so, he walks all the way to the Way’s house and by the time he arrives on their doorstep, the sun is biting the horizon. For all his smart decisions, choosing to walk the entire way to Gerard’s house overtaking the bus is not one of them. It’s one thing to walk to Gerard’s from his place because they didn’t actually live that far apart, but the school is miles away. 

After catching his breath, he knocks on the door several times, getting ready to just pound on the door or even try the handle. Then the door creaks open and it’s not Gerard, but Mr Way. 

“Oh, Frank. What are you doing here?”

Frank decides he’s going to get to the point. “Gee wasn’t at school today, so I wanted to stop by and see if he was okay.” Mr Way moves over and lets Frank shuffle inside. 

“Of course, he’s up in his room. Just…” He hesitates and Frank’s eyes narrow. 

“Just what?”

“Be careful, okay?”

Careful? What is that supposed to mean?

“Okay?” He says, uneasy. 

“Also, can you tell him dinner is almost ready? Are you staying?” 

Frank nods and then goes trekking up the stairs, suddenly being stopped by Mr Way’s words.

“Again, be careful.”

He runs. 

There’s noise coming from Gerard’s room. Music he’s somewhat familiar with, something from Gerard’s collection he’s guessing. And there’s chatter. He can’t quite make out what they’re saying, but there’s more than one person in the room. The music is quiet enough that a single knock on his end gets the chatter to silence immediately. He decides that’s his cue to enter.

Gerard’s room has barely changed, aside from the TV which has been moved from the living room, the gaming console that’s sitting beside it, and the two figures that hold Wii remotes in their hands as they race each other around a track in Mario Kart. 

Frank and Gerard haven't used the thing in months. Not since they’d decided it was too boring to play the same few tracks every afternoon for weeks on end. Anyway, usually they were up in Gerard’s room, not the living room where the TV was  _ supposed _ to be. 

Gerard himself is relaxing back against the headboard, hair skimming his shoulders, unwashed and greasy. That’s the first sign that something isn’t quite right if you ignore the fact that he ditched Frank at school to hang out at home with some stranger. 

This  _ stranger _ sits beside Gerard, has brown hair that tickles the back of his neck and is only a little shorter than Gerard’s, a little flatter. He’s got thinly rimmed glasses and is taller than Gerard, so, much taller than Frank. 

He watches as the duo race each other until the game finally ends with the stranger taking the victory. 

“You cheated!” Gerard huffs. The stranger simply lets out a little laugh and smiles.

“Gee?” He asks, still standing in the doorway. Gerard looks over, surprised. 

“Oh! Frank!” He slides off the bed and the stranger looks at him too, stunned into silence. 

“Hey Gee,” Frank says, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the stranger. “I was just coming to see if you were okay…But you seem to be just fine.” While he doesn’t mean for it to come out as hostile as it does, he can feel himself getting only the slightest bit pissed off. 

He was just so worried about Gerard, scared something was really wrong. But no, he just ditched school to play video games with someone who  _ isn’t _ Frank. 

Gerard’s eyes widen at his tone and he looks at him, pleadingly. “Frank… It’s not… I can explain. Just…” 

“Frank?” The stranger finally says. Gerard spins around and the stranger repeats Frank’s name a little louder, less questioningly.

“So you do know him…”

The stranger nods. 

“But…” Gerard starts to say something but is interrupted.

“Gerard!” A voice calls from downstairs. “Dinner!” 

Frank sighs and shakes his head. “Come on.” He gestures down the hall. “Give me your explanation at the dinner table.”

Gerard and the stranger follow him down the hall. He can feel both their eyes on the back of his neck. It makes him feel uncomfortable. 

Dinner’s a simple spaghetti bolognese, with a meatless version made just for Frank. The stranger keeps staring at him and it’s getting annoying. He huffs after a few minutes and crosses his arms. 

“Gerard? Explanation?”

“Oh… right…” Gerard bites his lip. Mr Way looks over at Gerard sternly. 

“You didn’t explain?”

“No…”

Mr Way shakes his head. “Of course you didn’t. Well, Frank, I’m sure you’re wondering who our new guest is.” 

“Yes.” 

“Well… I don’t think you’ve ever properly met him, but… this is Michael.” 

Michael?

“It’s… Mikey…” The stranger whispers. 

Oh… Gerard’s… 

“Your brother?” He raises his eyebrows at Gerard, and the boy simply nods. “I thought…” 

“He came home last night.” Gerard says. “He came home and he’s not leaving for a while. I’ll explain… explain the specifics later.” He looks mildly uncomfortable with the topic so Frank leaves it, instead taking it upon himself to change the direction of the conversation completely. 

“Anyway, Lindsey and Jamia were wondering where you were.” He’s not sure why Mikey pauses at this. But he attempts to ignore it. While Gerard obviously doesn’t, instead seeming to note it down in his head. 

“Lindsey and Jamia?” Mr Way asks. 

“Yeah, the two girls that kissed Gerard, they sit with us at lunch now.” Mikey coughs when he says this. Again, Gerard seems to mentally take note.

“I’m going back tomorrow. I think…” Gerard looks over at his father. “Dad?”

“Maybe… You may have to stay home another day. But we’ll discuss it later.” Mr Way states and in all honesty, it makes Frank even more confused and the slightest bit worried. 

No one speaks a word for the rest of dinner. When Mr Way stands to take his plate over, Mikey immediately follows, sliding behind Frank to whip his clean out from in front of him. He takes Gerard’s as well and they both go into the kitchen, leaving Frank and Gerard alone at the table. Gerard motions up the stairs and Frank nods, quickly making his way back to Gerard’s room. His parents be damned, he needs answers. 

Gerard lets the door swing shut behind them as Frank hops onto his bed and settles himself comfortably. 

“So…”

Gerard hesitantly sits next to him. “Well… in all honesty I have no idea what’s happening. So, I’m not quite sure how to explain.”

“From the start?” Frank suggests.

“Uh… yeah, okay. Well, Monday night, or maybe early yesterday morning, I heard my dad talking on the phone. He was kind of yelling. Then, last night, I woke up to shouting and then the front door slammed and a car drove off. I went downstairs and  _ he _ was there.”

“Mikey?”

“Yeah… but… you can see, he’s…”

“Nothing like what you described him to be.” Frank finishes. “That’s why I’m confused. You told me he hated you.”

“He didn’t  _ hate _ me. He just… he’s never really talked to me before. It’s always been me and dad, and him and mom. But, she left him here. And… he was literally clinging to me. And crying, when he saw my artwork in here. He looked so… scared. Dad said that mom told him that Mikey had called for me. Apparently I was all he wanted.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Frank placed his hand on Gerard’s shoulder as his friend began to break down.    
  


“I just… I don’t understand anything. Dad took him to the doctor and they said something about amnesia, and he talks real funny, and he’s so… different. I just… I don’t know how to deal with it.” Gerard begins to cry and Frank moves to wrap his arms around the boy. 

“Hey… It’s okay. It’ll be okay, you’ll be fine. Your dad will work things out, and things will be fine. You might even just enjoy having a brother around. You’ve told me before that you’ve wanted a relationship with your brother, now you’ve got one, however confusing and sudden it is.” Frank rubs Gerard’s back. “You’ll be okay.” 

Frank leaves an hour later, Mikey watching him from the staircase as he walks out the door after bidding all three Way’s goodbye. He can’t help but feel unnerved under the weight of Mikey’s gaze.

* * *

_ “Gerard! We’re home!” He hears his dad call out. He gently sets his book down and slides off his bed, tiptoeing out into the hallway and down the stairs.  _

_ Mikey keeps looking at him like that, with a soft and kind gaze, nothing like he’s ever expected from his little brother. His dad sits them both down and Mikey shuffles closer but is still wary after obviously figuring out how uncomfortable he’d made Gerard the night prior.  _

_ “Alright, so… I want you to listen to me carefully. Mikey… Mikey, you’re going to live with me and Gerard from now on, until either you move out or something drastic changes.”  _

_ Mikey gently nods his head and Gerard’s hands curl into the couch cushions.  _

_ “I am going to get you enrolled at the same school as Gerard, and also make sure you’ve got a therapist to work with.” Gerard’s eyebrows scrunch up in confusion at his words. But his dad keeps going. “We’ll get this all sorted out, I promise. Now, Mikey, if you would go upstairs and unpack, I’m going to talk to your brother.”  _

_ Mikey nods, smiling. “Okay. See you later, Gee.”  _

_ Gerard hesitantly flashes his teeth in what he hopes mirrors his brother’s action. Once Mikey is out of sight, his dad turns straight to him. _

_ “Therapist?” Gerard asks. “What’s going on with him? What did the doctor say?”  _

_ His dad takes a deep breath. “I don’t know how to phrase this, so I’m just going to say it. The doctor, and the psychiatrist we went to see, both believe that he has experienced some sort of trauma or something similar. He’s got a certain type of amnesia, and his brain is trying to fill in the blanks, which means it’s created a whole new life than the one he’s lived. In that life… you and him are obviously extremely close. It’s quite possible he’s worked other people into this little story that he’s met or knows.” _

_ Gerard’s taken aback by his father’s explanation. “So… what do we do now?” _

_ “The psychiatrist said that this tale is a sort of coping mechanism for him and that he kind of needs it to help him while he’s recovering from whatever he’s dealing with.” _

_ “Should I be worried about feeding into it? Making it worse?” _

_ “No… she said it was fine to talk to him about it, only to stop if it begins to upset him or cause him anxiety. It might actually help him by talking about it.”  _

_ Gerard nods and sighs, standing. “I’m gonna… go to my room.”  _

_ He goes back to bed and promptly falls asleep, waking to the living room’s TV mounted on the dresser, with their Wii sitting just in front of it. He stares at it for a few moments before he hears a knocking on the door. When he opens it, it’s Mikey, tapping his foot anxiously.  _

_ “Hey…”  _

_ “Hi?” _

_ “Uh… Dad said he moved the TV up here. Could we… uh… play some games?” _

_ Gerard doesn’t even think about it, he simply moves aside and lets the younger boy sit down, running on autopilot while he sets up Mario Kart.  _

* * *

_ _

Mikey knocks on his door gently. It’s almost ten and Gerard still hasn’t bothered turning on his lamp, choosing to sketch in the dark. His drawing probably looks really shitty, but he can’t bring himself to care at this point, he just needs something to do with his hands. 

“Hey… Gee? Can I… Can we talk?”

Gerard takes a moment to process the words Mikey’s saying, but as soon as he does, he hums an okay, gets up, and opens the door, flicking the light switch on while he’s up. 

Mikey’s still wearing the one outfit he brought with him last night, but his sneakers are gone and he’s fixed a beanie over a good portion of his hair. He comes in slowly, going around Gerard in a large circle, obviously trying to respect his brother’s boundaries. But, weirdly enough, he finds himself mulling over Frank’s words. He’s always wanted a friendship with his brother, always wanted a sibling to talk to be able to talk to, to be able to rely on. 

Gerard lets the door swing shut as Mikey awkwardly settles himself on the bed. Gerard chooses to stay over by the door, staring at Mikey expectantly. 

“Well… what did dad tell you… about me?” Mikey asks. 

“Something about amnesia and trauma.” 

Mikey grimaces. “Thought so. It’s stupid, and not true.”

“Not true?” 

“Yeah, completely fake. I know what I’m talking about and I’m not _ crazy _ or  _ traumatized _ or  _ broken _ .” Mikey shakes his head. 

“Okay… so… what is it? What’s wrong with you? Two days ago you wouldn’t have even looked at me. You’ve barely said a word to me in six years. And now you’re home, clinging to my every word. I just… I don’t understand!” Gerard huffs in annoyance, wringing his hands out. 

“Neither do I!” Mikey shoots back, and despite his tone, Gerard feels comforted by the words. Because, Mikey’s not pausing, not trembling. There’s confidence in his voice, and passion. He’s never heard his brother talk like this before. 

“So… tell me your story,” Gerard says, shuffling across the room until he’s sitting next to Mikey. “Tell me what you think your life should be like.”

Mikey sighs, flopping backwards onto the bed. “Me, you, Frank, Ray, we’re all friends. Well, more than friends. And we’re not in high school.” 

“We’re not? Also, who’s Ray?” The name sounds familiar, maybe someone in one of his classes. 

“We’ve been out of high school for years. You went to art school, I went to college. You finished, I dropped out.” He then pauses and asks the oddest question he’s asked recently. “What years were the both of us born?”

Gerard furrows his eyebrows in confusion but answers. “2002 for me, 2005 for you.” 

Mikey breathes heavily. “And what year is it now?” 

“2019?” Gerard then shakes his head. “Why?”

“Jeez, this is weird.” Mikey runs his hands through his hair. “We weren’t born in the 2000s. I was born in 1980. You were born in 1977. It’s 2010.”

Gerard stares at Mikey for a few minutes. So… this is what his dad meant by a whole new life. Mikey’s formed a narrative in his head. But, it’s almost too interesting to let go of.

“That would make me thirty-three.” 

“Yeah, exactly.” 

“What do we… do?” Gerard asks. “Like, what do I do for a living? Am I married? Do I have kids? And what about you? What about Frank?”

Mikey nods, as if he was expecting these questions. “We work together. In a band.” 

Gerard raises his eyebrows at Mikey. Sure, he’s always loved music, but he’s absolutely abysmal at guitar, and in all honesty, he can’t see himself as the musician type. He’s too shy, too soft-spoken. He doesn’t have the confidence that Frank has. There, that’s someone he’d be more likely to believe was in a band. 

“Me? In a band? I can’t play anything for shit.” 

Mikey lets out a little chuckle and Gerard immediately feels overwhelmed at the sound. 

“I’m all too aware, Gee. You don’t play anything.”

“What do I do then?” Gerard crosses his arms. 

“You sing.” 

Gerard blinks, unsure if he heard that right. Sing?

“What?”

“You sing,” Mikey repeats. 

“I… I can’t do that either.” 

“Don’t doubt yourself.” 

Gerard shakes his head. “Oh god. I can’t deal with all this right now.” He springs up from the bed and Mikey watches him, concerned, as he snatches a pencil off his desk and his sketchbook off his side table, pressing the led to the paper far too harshly as he curls up in the corner of the room. He doesn’t know why he draws what he draws, but as soon as it’s finished, he throws the book across the room, where Mikey easily catches it and takes a look at the sketch.

Gerard can’t help the tears sliding down his face, he can’t help the fact that he’s shaking so much that there could be an earthquake and he wouldn’t feel it. Mikey stands, walks over, and kneels in front of him, pulling him close. 

“What’s happening to me, Mikes?”

Mikes? He’s never used that nickname in conjunction with Mikey before. Actually, he’s never used it before at all. 

“It’s okay, Gee. It’s okay.” He hooks his arms under Gerard’s and pulls him to his feet, dragging him over to the bed. The sketchbook has been set down gently. Mikey tugs the covers up and pushes Gerard into bed, pulling the covers over him. 

“Mikey?”

The younger boy hushes him, running a hand through Gerard’s hair. “Sleep. I have a feeling everything will make sense in the morning.” 

Mikey leaves after flipping off the switch to the light. As soon as the room is shrewd in darkness, Gerard’s eyes close without warning and he drops off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought.


	4. Party Fuckin' Poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we got some more diverse povs this chap
> 
> over 2100
> 
> hope you enjoy
> 
> Not Beta Read

Ray isn’t one of those kids that get shoved into lockers or tripped up in the cafeteria, nor is he one of the people doing those things. He’s just in the middle, perfectly content with his small group of friends, not really worrying about anything going on around them. He doesn’t care about the social circles or the inner workings of the student body. All he wants to do is pass and get out. 

One thing that weighs on his mind is Gerard. Gerard and Mikey and Frank. And the band. 

Oh god, the band. He misses it so much. He’s seen so many people in this school but he can never keep his eyes off Gerard and Frank. Best friends in this life, yet they have no idea that Ray exists. He’s never caught sight of the younger Way brother, and Gerard never seems to mention him to Frank, whenever Ray catches their conversations. 

He’s sorta always known, right in the back of his mind, what they used to have. But it’s only been as of the last few months that he’s had the realisation that it was all real. He has a feeling there’s something they can do to get everything back, but he’s not quite sure at this point as to how they’re going do that, so he’s simply biding his time.

He thinks about befriending the duo, Frank and Gerard, but seeing as the friends he has amassed have been pulling him in all directions, he rarely gets to see them. 

One day, though, two familiar girls stalk down the hall towards him, staring at him with understanding.

“Ray,” Lindsey greets, holding her hand out to shake. He does.

“Lindsey, Jamia. So you…”

“Remember? Of course. Gerard certainly doesn’t, nor does Frank. I haven’t even caught a glimpse of Mikey, so I’m not sure about him,” Lindsey responds and Jamia cuts in. 

“Gerard wasn’t at school yesterday. Frank seemed kind of bummed about that.” 

“You think something’s up?”

“Oh, certainly.” 

* * *

Gerard wakes up with a spring in his step, and Mikey knows. He knows that Gerard remembers. 

“‘Morning, Gee.” 

“Hey, Mikes,” he says through a smile and reaches for the cereal. Mikey snatches it away before he can lay his hands on it. “Oi, give it back.”

“Nope. Not ‘till you tell me what’s up.”

“What’s up? I remember, you idiot.” Gerard gently swats him over the head. “Fuckin’ scared me last night though.”

He then leans over Mikey to grab the cereal and tries to pour it into a bowl Mikey had retrieved as they playfully fought. 

Their father chose then to walk in to find his two, previously distant, sons laughing whilst fighting over a box of cereal. He pauses, his eyebrows raised, and Mikey surrenders the box to Gerard, sighing. 

“Good morning.”

“You two are certainly… happy this morning.” 

“Definitely.” Gerard’s phone suddenly vibrates in his pocket, making it rattle against the cabinets he is leaning on. “Oh, it’s Frank.” He puts the phone to his ear, and while Mikey knows Gerard hates phone calls, he knows this is important, and stays silent.

“Uh, hey Frank.”

“Are you staying home with your brother again today?” Frank whines. 

“Yeah… sorry.” 

“But it’s so boring here without you.”

“Maybe, do your schoolwork?” Gerard adds a shrug even though Frank won’t see it. 

“Ugh, fine, I’ll try finding something to occupy my time. Maybe cuddle with those cute girls, since you’re not here to. You sure you’re not just still embarrassed by the kiss... Gee, it’s fine if you like one of them, she’d probably be right on board. Oh, it’s Lindsey isn’t it-”

“Frank!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll deal. See you.”

The phone clicks and Mikey begins to laugh. 

“He thinks you’re straight?”

Gerard hangs his head glumly. “I could tell him… but then he’d…”

“Figure it out?”

“Yeah.”

“Gerard, Mikey,” Their dad pipes up and they jump, having forgotten he was there. “How about you two go into town today, have fun. You’ll go back to school tomorrow, Gerard, and Mikey, I’ll take you to enrol tomorrow, maybe you can start next week.”   
  
“Okay, dad,” Gerard promises. “We’ll go.”

Their dad then waves goodbye, leaving a fair bit of cash on the counter, probably for them. 

  
“That’s not enough to…”

“I’ve got some extra upstairs.” 

Mikey grins. 

* * *

Frank finds himself as bored as the day prior. He spots a guy with thick, curly hair watching him occasionally, but other than that, it’s an incredibly uneventful day that gets more and more monotonous as it progresses.

He hadn’t realised how much he relied on Gerard until now. Whenever Gerard was sick, Frank was usually  _ already _ sick. Lindsey and Jamia join him for lunch yet again, and he sees them chatting to the curly-haired guy, so he guesses they’re friends or something. He’s not sure. 

He texts Gerard, asking if he can come over, to which his friend responds with a sad face and a  _ ‘sorry, no.’ _

Disappointed, he goes to bed early, hoping that Gerard returns the next day. 

As soon as Frank gets to school, he’s looking around for his friend’s dark black hair and curled in figure, but he can’t seem to find him. He’s pretty sure Gerard said he’d be here, but Frank is looking everywhere and he’s nowhere in sight.

“Frankie!” A voice comes from behind him. Gerard’s voice. He lets out a sigh of relief, thank god his friend finally was at school again and turns before freeze in shock. 

Gerard’s previously dark hair is bright red. Like, fire truck red. 

Gerard bounces on his feet, spreading his arms out. “Surprise! What’dy think?” 

Frank is speechless. Gerard’s sudden and unexplainable confidence is so out of character that Frank doesn’t know what to think. All he knows is that it’s different and it kinda turns him on. But he’s not gonna think about that. ‘Cause Gerard’s straight, and he’s gonna make sure his best friend gets with one of those cute chicks. Doesn’t matter what Frank thinks. 

Gerard’s face falls due to Frank’s silence. 

“Do you not like it?” 

Frank snaps out of his thoughts quickly, shaking his head, putting his hands on Gerard’s shoulders. “No, no, I love it. It’s really cool. But, seriously, did you ditch me at school yesterday just to get your hair done? I would’ve gone with you, man.”

Gerard bites his lip, hesitating before pulling away. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“I’m certainly surprised. But, did you really have to ditch school for that?”

“Well, dad wanted me and Mikey to go into town together, bond or whatever, and Mikes suggested I get this done.” He then reaches over and grasps Frank’s hand, pulling him through the school. Everyone is staring but Gerard doesn’t stop. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late to class. I’ve already missed two days, and you’ve probably neglected half of yours.” 

Frank has the decency to look a little guilty when Gerard waves at someone who’s coming the opposite way. 

“Hey, Ray, Lindsey, Jamia!” He calls, and Frank finally spots the two girls and that curly-haired guy they’d been talking to. How did Gerard know him?

All three of them do a double-take and then greet him cautiously. Gerard then continues down the hall. 

“Uh, Gerard, how did your dad feel about this?”

“Huh? Oh, he…” Gerard frowns. “He wasn’t  _ too _ happy about it. But he said since I’m seventeen now, I can do what I want with my hair. With my appearance really. I tried to convince Mikey to get his hair done, but he said he didn’t want dad to pass out. Not that he didn’t almost do that when I walked through the door.” 

Frank laughs at the mental image and Gerard smiles. 

“Does this mean you’re not mad anymore?” 

“‘Course I’m not. I mean, I’m bummed that you left me here by myself yesterday, but I get it. Suddenly having a brother present in the house must be trippy.”

“Definitely is.” 

They settle into their desks, next to each other, and Gerard looks like he’s trying really hard to block out all the gazes staring at him. Frank sends each and every one of them a fierce glare and they all look away. 

The period seems to go by in the blink of an eye, and soon enough they’re going from class to class. And then someone decides it would be funny to trip Gerard up in the hallway. Frank reaches to catch him but is a few seconds late and Gerard is on the ground. Fortunately, he’s managed to land on all fours, making it slightly less embarrassing and a lot easier for him to get up. Because at least he’s not spread out across the floor. 

When Frank goes to help him up, Gerard waves him off, standing and frowning. He’s not crying, which is unusual, usually, Gerard is bursting into tears at this point. But no, he’s just standing there, with his bright red hair and his small frown, staring at the guy who dared to trip him up. He’s not doing anything special, but it’s still a little intimidating.

Gerard turns and walks further down the hall, and another person decides to attempt to trip him up, which he, again, falls and picks himself up off the floor. He brushes his hair down from where it’s been messed about, but he then continues to walk. He avoids the next one, and the one after that. And Frank runs to catch up with him. 

One final person goes to trip Gerard, the whole hall giggling at this point, and Frank literally launches himself at them, punching them in the face and breaking their nose. Silence overtakes the hall. Frank stands over the guy, who’s on the ground, clutching his nose and scowling at him. He returns it with one of his own. 

Gerard then grabs the back of his hoodie and drags him away. “Come on, Frankie. It’s not worth getting into more trouble.”

“Gee! They-”

“Come on, Frankie. Let’s go.”

Frank frowns but follows. People literally part as they continue down the hall towards their next class. 

During the middle of class, someone speaks over the loudspeaker. Frank waits for his name to be said, but instead Gerard’s name is uttered. Frank goes to stand and Gerard places his hand on his shoulder. 

“Gee, it was me that-”

“I don’t think it’s about that, Frank. I’ll be back.”

Gerard throws his backpack on and heads out of class, several eyes watching him go. Some girl he’s never met goes to steal Gerard’s seat and he sends her the harshest glare he can muster. She retreats back to her usual spot after that. 

Gerard hasn’t returned by the time lunch rolls around, so he skips the line and heads straight to the tree, those school lunches are mostly just mush anyway. He thinks about ditching school again to pick up fries at some fast food joint when Lindsey and Jamia walk over, soon followed by Gerard. 

“Hey,” he says and waves. “I knew it wasn’t about what happened.” Gerard settles himself between Frank and Lindsey. “I thought at first it might be the hair, but no, it was just Mikes.” 

Before Frank can ask, Jamia pipes up. “Who’s ‘Mikes’?”

“Oh, that’s my brother, Mikey. He doesn’t go here… yet. That’s why they wanted me. He had a bit of a breakdown at home, dad wanted me to talk to him.”

“He still here?”

“No, he tired himself out so dad took him home.” Gerard sighs and lies down. 

When the bell rings to signify the end of lunch, Frank has glanced over at Lindsey exactly five times. Every time, she’d been staring directly at Gerard. He tries not to find it creepy, instead choosing to see it as more proof that they’d work well together. 

* * *

Lindsey tugs Jamia aside after lunch. They watch as the two boys make their way back to class. 

“Let's go somewhere else. This school is too much for me right now.” Lindsey hisses and Jamia nods in agreement. As soon as they’re off school grounds, Jamia points to a lone bench by a convenience store. There are mass amounts of gum underneath it, and a wet patch that they silently agree not to sit on, and the arrangement ends up being Lindsey in Jamia’s lap. 

“Mikey.” 

“I know.” Lindsey runs her hands through Jamia’s hair. “I think Gee remembers.”

“Maybe Mikey just got him to dye his hair? We have no way of telling,” Jamia responds. 

“We could try and meet with him?”

“Gerard mentioned him starting school, didn’t he?” Jamia asks. Lindsey nods and Jamia continues. “We could wait ‘till then.”

“Should we tell Ray?”

“Not yet, I don’t think he’s ready to hear about Mikey.” Jamia sighs and Lindsey stands up. 

“What do you think, ice cream and a walk before last period?” Lindsey holds out her hand to help Jamia up. 

“Sure,” Jamia smiles and they walk down the sidewalk with their fingers intertwined. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ray looks like he did in the i'm not okay music video


	5. Motorbaby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost 2300
> 
> Bit of a filler chapter, but we get to learn a little about Frank's home life, so that's a plus

Frank takes the bus home alongside Gerard. It feels nice after Gerard being away for two days. They get odd looks on the bus, mostly from the hair, and walking up Gerard’s front steps, neighbours stare over at them. 

“Hey Gee, Frank.” Frank jumps as he hears Mikey call from the living room, casual and carefree. The Mikey he saw two days ago was nervous, uncomfortable, and somewhat shy. But this one resembles the one he saw for only a second while competing against his elder brother in a stupid video game. 

“Hey, Mikey!” Gerard yells back.

“How was your day at school?” Mikey asks as he walks past them into the kitchen. His brown hair is a mess from lying around all day, and his clothes are a little rumpled. 

“It was fine.” 

“You kept getting tripped up, Gee,” Frank reminds him. “Pissed me the fuck off.”

Mikey turns around and frowns, looking a little sympathetic and just a little annoyed. “Why did you tell me before? Or did it happen after…”

“I mean... it happened before, but it was fine. Frankie punched one of them in the face.”

“Sounds about right.” Mikey then chuckles, tossing a bag of chips at the duo. “Here, go upstairs and make out or something.”

Gerard goes beet red, and Frank clenches his fists after catching the bag. 

“Mikes!” Gerard yelps. “It isn’t… it’s not like that!”

“Yeah, we’re not…”

Mikey just laughs and walks out of the kitchen, making his way up the stairs to his own room. 

Gerard buries his face in his hands, cheeks as red as his hair. “God, why does he say things like that?” 

Frank pats Gerard on his shoulder. “It’s okay, dude. One of the downsides of getting a younger sibling I’m assuming.” 

Gerard lifts his head and gives Frank a small smile that makes his heart skip a beat, before beating himself up about the fact that, again, Gee is straight and is very likely absolutely head over heels in love with Lindsey. 

Instead of doing anything vaguely embarrassing, Frank takes Gerard upstairs and into his room, taking note of a new painting and several sketches pinned to the wall. The painting depicts two guys with masks on, colourful guns in hand, and one has bright red hair like Gerard, the other having dark hair. Their clothing is bright, in all colours of the rainbow. The redhead has on a yellow mask, blue jacket, washed-out jeans, and black boots. 

The other figure is considerably shorter, with a green mask, a yellow and black long-sleeved shirt which is pulled up over the elbows to reveal intricate tattoos detailed down to the fingers, dark jeans with black boots and a green army vest. They’re both smiling, back to back, a sandy desert drawn behind them. The amount of detail put into it is nothing like anything else in the room. 

It’s very… Gerard esque. Definitely a superhero sort of theme. The sketches are much the same; a simple black and white sketch of a man with an animal print shirt and darker jacket, an arm around the shoulder of what looks like the red-haired man; another one of the redhead with a little girl with an afro in front of him; a curly-haired man standing by himself, in dark clothing with shades on. Finally, there is a massive one with all the previously mentioned characters standing about, the short one leaning on a car, the curly-haired guy filling up the car with gas, the girl sitting up on top of the car, the redhead smoking to the side, and the animal print guy standing with his arms crossed and an unimpressed expression on his face. 

“You like them?” Gerard’s voice startles him. 

“Uh, yeah, they’re really cool. When did you do them?”

“Yesterday, I stayed up quite late.” Gerard flexes his hand a little as if a phantom pain has spiked up it from simply remembering the night before. 

Frank hums. “Who’re they supposed to be?” 

“Oh! This one is Party Poison.” Gerard points to the redhead. “He’s like the leader. That guy.” He then points to the short one. “Is Fun Ghoul, he’s like the one with all the firepower. He builds bombs and is sorta impulsive and goes in all guns blazing. And him.” He moves from the painting to one of the sketches. “He’s Kobra Kid, Party Poison’s younger brother. He’s the stoic, quiet one.” And then Gerard points to the curly-haired guy. “That’s Jet Star, the sort of ‘mom’ of the group, you know? Finally…” He spins around to point at the little girl. “That’s ‘The Girl.’ Sometimes called Missile Kid or Motorbaby. They’re the ones raising her. She’s like their kid.” 

Frank laughs. “You think these up last night too?”

“Yep. There’s this whole story in my head about them being rebels and stuff.” Gerard then bounces backwards and lands on his bed, stretching out. 

“You thinkin’ ‘bout writing a novel?”

“More like a comic,” Gerard says with a smile.

“I’m sure it’ll be awesome, whatever you do with it,” Frank tells him and then frowns. “Move over, I wanna sit down.” 

Gerard does so and Frank lies down with his legs dragging on the floor. 

“So… do you actually like my hair..?” Gerard asks after a moment.

Frank sits up. “Of course I do. It’s fucking cool.”

Gerard ponders his answer. “I just… I wasn’t too sure about what you’d think. Mikey kept saying it’d be fine and that you’d like it, but I just… I couldn’t stop worrying that you wouldn’t like it.”

“I love it, dude. And Lindsey probably likes it too, she was staring at you the whole lunch.”

Gerard smiles but it comes out as more of a grimace. “Heh, that’s funny.”

“I’m telling you the truth, she’s totally into you.” 

Gerard shakes his head, reaching back to thread his hands through his hair. “Nah,” he whispers as he stares into space.

Frank just chuckles to himself, muttering, “God he’s so oblivious,” and trying not to feel a pang in his heart. Why he’s thinking like this, he doesn’t know. But he knows that he’s got to stop. It’s not right to stop his friend from getting with the girl he likes, just because he… he what? What exactly does Frank feel about Gerard?

Attracted? Yes. Interested? Yes. In love? He’s not sure. Or maybe he is, but just doesn’t want to admit it to himself.

* * *

Saturday, Frank hangs out at home, strumming his guitar and writing new music. He then reads a book, thinks about Gerard, and then stares out the window for a solid hour before giving up and calls Gerard. It’s about four in the afternoon. 

“Hey, Frank!” Gerard greets happily. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, and that’s the problem.”

“Well, what did you do today?” Gerard asks. “Anything?”

“Played guitar, read a book, stared out the window.” Gerard giggles over the phone and Frank huffs. “What did you do then?”

“I half completed another painting. Played a few video games with Mikey, listened to some music.”

“See, at least your day was productive. You finished a painting!”   
  


“_Half-finished_ . Not completely,” Gerard corrects. “You  _ sure _ you didn’t do anything else?”

  
“I wrote some lyrics I guess…”

“See! You did do something productive!” Gerard cheers out and Frank lies back on his bed. 

“Do you think we can hang out together tomorrow?” Frank hums. “With Mikey too, I wanna get to know him.”

“Oh! Sure!” He can then hear movement on the other end and then he can hear Gerard call out to Mikey. Something like, ‘Mikey, you wanna hang out with Frank with me tomorrow?’ which gains a response in a very calm, ‘yeah, whatever.’

* * *

Spending time with both of the Way brothers is surreal. It’s different than the dinner they ate, or the brief encounter they had in the kitchen/hall. Mikey and Gerard’s banter throws him off guard and he still doesn’t quite understand the reason behind their change in demeanour. But he chooses to ignore it. 

Mikey’s really nice, Frank notices. Really nice and really fucking cool. Mikey even offers to pay for his fries, no matter how cheap they are. Frank waves him off, but Mikey still pays for Gerard’s order and his own. Where he’s getting this money from, Frank has no idea. 

“Where did you get all this money from, Mikey?” Frank asks as they’re on their way back to the Way’s house. Frank’s house is on the way there, and Frank wants to stay home for dinner tonight, give the brothers more of a chance to spend time with each other. 

“Mom left it… In my suitcase.” Mikey then stuffs his hands in his hoodie pockets. 

“Oh…”

Weirdly enough, Frank doesn’t find himself threatened by Mikey’s presence in Gerard’s life. He doesn’t feel his position as a best friend being threatened, nor does he feel left out or pushed away. Maybe on Thursday or even on Friday, he felt that, but after spending the day with both brothers, he feels comfortable. 

“You’re starting school tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, kinda scared. Haven’t been to school since-”

Gerard interrupts them. “We’re nearly there.”

They both seem very hesitant to talk about exactly why Mikey is now with them, but Frank can kinda understand. Some shit went down, so Frank decides he’s not going to bother them about it. 

“Hey! This is my stop!” Frank cries, jumping up the front steps of his apartment complex. Mikey and Gerard smile up at him and wave goodbye, and Frank makes his way inside, up the first set of stairs, and then unlocks the door. 

No one’s home, like usual, but that doesn’t really matter to him. He, instead, hangs out in his room with his headphones on a low volume and one of the dumb textbooks he needs for an assignment. He hasn’t made any progress on it, mostly just stared out the window when he hears the front door open and then swings shut. 

Instead of getting up, he turns up the volume on his headphones and checks the lock on his door. It’s as close to deadbolted as it can be. He decides to give up on the assignment, and just lies back on his bed, he blasts music in his ears and tries not to think about how good Gerard had looked that day. 

He fails. And after half an hour, he chooses to hit pause on the endless stream of sound. Luckily he doesn’t hear any shouting, nor any moaning, so he feels it safe to emerge from his room. 

The table has been set for three, the smell of food emitting from the kitchen, and he can hear someone humming a tune. 

“Oh, you must be Frank!” A voice comes from beside him and he turns around to see a lovely looking woman standing there, smiling at him. 

“Hi?” He greets cautiously. He’s never seen her before. “And you are?”

“Nicole,” she says like that explains everything. He stares at her, waiting patiently for her to elaborate. “I’m here with…”

“Dad?” He then lets out a sigh. “New girlfriend?”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

  
“Great,” he huffs and turns to go back to his room. She hums in disappointment, and he can hear her footsteps return to the kitchen. 

He locks his door again, unlocks his phone, and calls Gerard. 

“Hey man. Can I come over after eight?”

  
“Uh…” Gerard sounds concerned. “Sure, why?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I just need outta my house again.” He doesn’t say anything else, but Gerard doesn’t question him further, so he thinks it’s fine. 

“Okay, see you then.”

“Yep.”

When he leaves his room again, his father and Nicole are sitting at either side of the table, leaving the spot in the middle open for him. Dinner is laid out, but unfortunately, it’s not quite to his  _ taste _ . He picks at the salad while the other two dine on steak and drink wine.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Nicole asks, tilting her head and gesturing to the piece of meat on his plate. He musters up the fakest smile he has and informers her with a flat voice. 

“I’m vegetarian…”

She shuts up. 

After dinner, she makes a move to bring them desert, the typical dishing of ice cream, when he shakes his head and shoves his arms in his jacket. 

“You won’t stay for dessert?”

He simply replies bluntly. “I am also lactose intolerant. And I’m going to Gerard’s. Be back in three hours, maybe…” 

She watches him leave, looking guilty, and he has to give her credit. She’s trying at least. All the rest of his father’s girlfriends absolutely hate him once they find out that their darling boyfriend has a teenage son. Her culinary blunders are understandable, his father has obviously forgotten to inform her of his dietary requirements. 

He kinda hopes she sticks around. For a little while at least.

Gerard’s house is much more homely, Mikey and Gerard are, again, hanging out on Gerard’s bed with Wii remotes, racing each other. 

“Hey, Frank!” Mikey smiles and pats the section of the bed beside him. It’s between him and Gerard. 

Gerard suddenly surrenders his remote to Frank, bouncing to his feet and scrambling to get ahold of his sketchbook and a pencil. He rushes out of the room, and the two left just stare. 

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s been doing that for the past few days, suddenly jumping up and drawing. Leads to some awesome sketches though,” Mikey replies, lying back. “Wanna play?”

“Sure.”

Mikey shoots him a sneaky grin. “Prepare to lose, Frank Iero.” 

Frank shoots him one back. “You’re on, Mikey Way.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nicole has arrived and will be sticking around :)))))


	6. Ruby Red Lipstick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> over 2100
> 
> More Mikey, more Nicole, more everyone.
> 
> Not Beta Read

_ His head fucking hurts. He can’t see properly, and he fumbles for glasses that he shouldn’t need. He pushes them off the side table and into his hand.  _

_ And fuck, where on earth is he? _

_ It’s not the tour bus, that’s for sure. Actually, he doesn’t know what it looks like. Something reminiscent of a dorm room of some kind. But that wouldn’t make any sense, he’s been out of school for years.  _

_ Shit, where’s Gerard. And Frank. And… Ray? _

_ “Shit, shit, shit…” He finds himself panicking without any control. He reaches blindly in the semi-darkness for a light switch. It clicks on and the whole place is illuminated. He doesn’t recognise the place at all.  _

_ He feels kinda scared because there are guys he’s never seen before sleeping in beds around him. And the hair sitting in front of his face is brown, not blonde, his glasses are different to any pair he’d worn before, his pyjamas are different. Everything is different and he’s really scared.  _

_ Someone must wake at the glowing light coming from his stand because he can hear complaints thrown his way. But he tunes them out, bringing his knees to his chest and he begins to shake because he’s terrified. This other person stands up and comes over to him, asking him if he’s okay, which he can’t answer.  _

_ He’s shivering and shaking too much and he doesn’t understand what’s going on. This person must get leave to get help because soon enough two people who look like teachers or something are standing at his bedside.  _

_ Nothing makes sense. He begins to scream into his knees, trembling even more now, and he can’t hear what they’re saying. There’s more talking and then he’s being dragged out of bed and down the hall, despite him fighting them off purely on instinct before sliding down the side of the corridor and curling up on himself again.  _

_ Then a woman is in front of him and he thinks he vaguely recognises her, and he calms down slightly after that.  _

_ “Michael,” she says his name slowly, her arms on his shoulders. _

_ “Where’s Gee.” It’s the only thing he can think of right now. She pulls back as if she’s been slapped in the face.  _

_ “Your brother?” Her voice is laced with distaste. _

_ “Yeah… Gerard.” _

_ She breathes out, exasperated. “He’s... “ _

_ “I need to see him, now.”  _

_ “Fine, I’ll take you to him tomorrow. Go back to sleep.”  _

_ He frowns but does as she says. When he finally wakes, the afternoon sun is peeking through the window and the boys from the night prior are gone. The woman returns, packing up things around his little corner of the room. He places his glasses on his nose, the feeling both familiar and really unnatural. He’s been glasses-less for years now, suddenly having to rely on them again is going to need some getting used to.  _

_ She looks annoyed all afternoon, and as he frowns at his clothes, a pair of beige shorts and a grey tee, paired with shinny new trainers, she huffs and tells him she’ll take him shopping if he really wants her to.  _

_ He doesn’t turn her down, and soon enough, he looks somewhat like he used to in ‘04 or ‘05. It’s a start, he guesses. All he needs now is to see Gerard.  _

_ It takes hours to get to where the woman says Gerard lives. He should probably learn her name. When he asks, she gets this weird look on her face and asks if he’s joking. He assures her he is not, and she firmly tells him that she is his mother.  _

_ That stuns him into silence for the rest of the trip.  _

_ The house she takes him to is homey. It looks nice and warm and safe. His good mood dissipates just as soon as it appears, because the man to answer the door immediately gets into a shouting match with the woman claiming to be his mother - but he doesn’t want to think about her like that, because he has a mother and she certainly isn’t it - and she forces him inside. His bag is pulled in afterwards, left by the door as they herd him into the living room.  _

_ They fight and shout at each other and he tunes them out, instead lying down, exhausted. All he wants is Gerard.  _

_ A door slams and the woman is gone, the man pacing. Footsteps come from further away and he idly listens as the man speaks.  _

_ “Did we wake you?” _

_ Another voice speaks, and then the man replies.  _

_ “You should go back to bed, Gerard.” _

_ He shoots up, staring as he sees his brother - Oh my god it’s Gerard it’s Gerard it’s Gerard - standing in the doorway, young, with messy hair and a sleepy look to his face. He barely thinks before hugging his brother tightly, receiving an uncomfortable gulp and Gerard’s arms hang by his sides.  _

_ Mikey breaks away, although he keeps close to his brother, scared to lose him again. It doesn’t matter that Gerard’s hair is black again, or that he’s young and that he looks at him like he would a stranger. Of course, Mikey’s still nervous and panicky, because things aren’t right and he doesn’t like it.  _

_ “Dad? What’s going on? Why’s Mikey…” Gerard stutters out, glancing at him wearily.  _

_ “You both should go to sleep. We’ll work this out in the morning. Michael, you can stay in the guest room while we get this sorted, yes?” The man asks and Mikey doesn’t argue. Instead, he obediently goes up the stairs, finding himself pausing at the open bedroom. He walks inside and sees a beautiful painting on the wall. It’s an old one, one that Gerard had left with their parents years ago.  _

_ He can’t stop the tears, sitting down. Gerard comes up and finds him soon enough, and Mikey wipes the tears away, apologising. Because this isn’t his Gerard. This Gerard is a stranger. For now, at least. Then he finds himself hugging Gerard again and walking out, sitting on the bed in the spare room with the door shut. He thinks about how to fix things.  _

_ Nothing comes to mind and he prays to any god that will listen that answers come to him in the morning. _

* * *

_ _

Mikey starts school on Monday. Gerard sends him a grin when their dad drops them off, and Mikey shares his smile softly. They meet with Frank at the front gate, get Mikey’s timetable from the office, and walk him to his first class. 

On their walk back, Lindsey suddenly grabs Gerard’s arm and pulls him away from Frank. As he sends a pleading look back to his friend, all Frank does is send him two thumbs up and a wink. He frowns as Lindsey leads him all the way to behind the school, pushing him up against the wall. She then kisses him, but he doesn’t kiss back. 

She waits a few seconds, pulls back, and stares right into his eyes, running her hands through his hair. He knows that look, having been married to her for three years. 

“So you do…”

“Remember? Yeah. Why on earth else would I have walked up to a shy art kid and a short punk?” She pats him on the head and he giggles, embarrassed. 

“You mean if you didn’t remember, you wouldn't have even looked at me?”

“I don’t know. I have no clue who the girl I used to be was. I don’t know what she liked, disliked. I don’t know if she was nice, mean, somewhere in between.” 

“Mikey is the same,” he states. “But not me…”

“Nor Jamia,” Lindsey tells him. “She’s in love with me.” 

He just shakes his head. “I think she’s always been in love with you, Linds.”

“Same goes with you, Gerard. You’ve been smitten with Frank since the moment you two first met, Jamia’s told me all about it.” She’s still so close to him, but he doesn’t mind. He doesn’t love her, not like that. But she’s been his friend, his partner, someone there to help him when he’s in need. He trusts her, he cares about her, but he’s not in love with her. 

“You love her, don’t you?” 

She sighs bashfully. “I can’t deny it.” 

“You can’t, no. And nor can I.” 

She pulls away from him, taking his hand. “Come on.”

“To class then?”

“If you want? I bet Frank believes we’re making out back here.” 

“He thinks you like me and that I have a massive crush on you,” he hums as he links arms with her.

“He doesn’t even think he has a chance with you?”

“He doesn’t like me, Linds. This version at least. And even if he does, he thinks I’m  _ off-limits _ . You know,  _ straight _ .”

She chuckles as she leads him back to his class. “God, nothing could be further from the truth.” 

* * *

Frank watches as Gerard slides into his seat just as the bell rings. His hair is messed up and his lips have faint outlines of lipstick, obviously coming from Lindsey’s mouth. He tries not to feel jealous. This is what he wants for Gerard, for him to be happy. But he can’t stop himself from feeling envious of Lindsey, of what she has. She’s tall, pretty, and most importantly, she has Gerard. She’s the luckiest girl in the world. 

Gerard sends him a grin and Frank buries his head in his arms. The two of them meet up with Mikey at lunch, who waves at them and they sit under that damn tree again. 

Lindsey and Jamia join them, and Frank tries not to flinch as they sit closer to Gerard. Instead, he just shuffles closer. Mikey gives him a knowing look and Frank simply scowls at him for as long as he can before Gerard notices and questions him. 

“Is this your brother, Gerard?” Jamia asks, holding out her hand to shake. Mikey accepts it, shaking firmly. 

“Yeah, this is Mikey. Frank’s already met him, but Mikes, these two girls are Jamia and Lindsey,” Gerard responds.

Mikey says ‘hey’ in a casual manner and they move on, simply sitting in comfortable silence. 

* * *

Frank gets home from Gerard’s quite late that night, yet he’s surprised to see Nicole still up, and in all honesty, still there. She smiles at him as he walks in, and he gives her a frown instead, not even trying to pretend that everything is okay. 

“What’s wrong?” She asks, and she’s sweet so he humours her. 

“A guy I like made out with a girl today.” 

She frowns at that. “You poor thing. I remember when that happened to dear ol’ Brendon. Boy was crying himself to sleep for weeks. He’s always been a softie, though. You seem quite a bit tougher than him. Still, must suck.” 

“Who’s Brendon,” he asks idly, pretending not to care when in all honesty he is a bit curious. 

“Oh, my son. He moved out a few years ago, and is an absolute sweetie pie.” She smiles to herself. Frank pauses. He’d thought Nicole was kinda on the younger side of the spectrum of girls his dad brought home. If he’d heard she had a son before, he would’ve guessed he’d be a little kid. But a son that’s already moved out? “He lives with his boyfriend now, Ryan, lovely boy. They’re made for each other, I’m sure.” 

He nods along as she continues.

“He’s always had trouble with his love life, but when he met Ryan, it was all just perfect. I’m sure you’ll be fine, darling. Even if this boy doesn’t like you, who says the next one won’t. You’re young, kid, you’ve got plenty of time.” 

He bites his lip, shaking his head. “I just…”

“Why don’t you invite him over? Your father won’t be home tomorrow, but I’ll cook something nice if you want, your dad said you didn’t usually have friends over.” 

Frank gulps. Gerard doesn’t quite know too much about his home life. Frank’s tight-lipped about it. He refuses to talk about the endless stream of horny girlfriends or having to listen to either loud shouting or loud moaning, though he’s not sure which is worse when his headphones are broken. 

He’s never brought Gerard into the usually messy apartment either, never introduced him to his father. Gerard probably doesn’t even know about the chaos that is the situation with his mom, know that Frank thinks about it. It’s odd that Gerard’s never asked, but then again, Gerard’s genuinely a nice person. A good person. 

“I’ll think about it…”

She smiles and hesitates before roughing up his hair a little before walking away. “Goodnight, Frank,” she says as she walks into her and his father’s shared room. 

As he settles in his bed, he decides he likes Nicole. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting there people, slowly.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment telling me what you thought/any questions you have


	7. Bloody Noses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter over 1600

Ray doesn’t see him until the second day he’s there, but once he does, he freezes up and stares as Mikey Way walks across the school, side by side with his red-haired brother, Gerard, and his brother’s short-as-fuck best friend, Frank. 

Jamia saddles up to him when she notices where his gaze is fixed. 

“So you’ve just noticed?” She asks, and he nods, not taking his eyes off the brunet bassist. 

“He looks like he used to.”

“Uh-huh, he sounds like normal too.”

He turns to face her. “How long has he been here?”

“Since yesterday. But Gee mentioned him on Friday. Decided not to tell you and get your hopes up.” She crosses her arms and then uncrosses them and lets them hang at her sides. 

“Hopes up?”

“Yeah, in case he didn’t remember shit. Like, the question being, why does Gee have his bright red hair?” She inquires. 

“That’s just something he decided to do.” 

“After two days of being away, he decides to dye his hair and at the same time, his brother just happens to move back in with him. You don’t think that’s suspicious?”

Ray ponders her question for a minute. “Maybe…”

Before she can continue, Lindsey rushes over to them. 

“Thank god I found both of you,” she pants, out of breath. “I think I figured out what happened and how to fix it!” Jamia and Ray both look at her, hopeful. She then gives herself a moment to catch her breath before speaking again. “The only problem, it takes all of us. All six of us, I’m guessing. Unless there’s more…”

“That might be a problem…” Jamia hums. 

“Why?” Ray asks before it hits him and he feels stupid. Not all of them remember. 

“Frank, dummy.” Lindsey shakes her head. “Frank doesn’t remember shit.”

Ray then narrows his eyes, followed by Jamia. 

“Wait…” Ray starts. 

“Gerard remembers?” Jamia questions at the same time Ray asks,

“Mikey remembers?”

“Yes!” Lindsey huffs and holds her head in her hands. “Both of the Way brother’s remember. That’s why Mikey’s back, and that’s why Gerard’s hair is like that. He told me yesterday.”

“And you didn’t tell  _ us! _ ” Jamia pouts. “Linds!”

“I needed time to figure shit out,” she shoots back.

Ray puts himself between the two girls. “Okay, okay. So, what’s your big plan?”

“I can’t explain it right now, it’s way too complicated. We better deal with the more pressing problem first.”

Ray thinks for a minute and then sighs as all three of them say it at the same time.

“Frank.”

* * *

Frank is sick of this school. Honest to god sick of it. Because Mikey’s been knocked to the ground and Gerard is on his knees, looking his brother over for injuries. One look and Frank goes absolutely wild, kicking and punching the guy, which earns him a few kicks and punches too. 

It’s the end of school and they’re heading out when it happens. It’s so sudden Frank doesn’t even notice at first that Mikey’s on the floor and the few people left are laughing. What is it with this school and picking on the Way brothers?

He’s not quite satisfied by the time he feels both Gerard and what he thinks are Lindsey’s arms around him, pulling him back and dragging him out of the hall. He can feel something running down his nose and dripping on his lips, the metallic taste making him cringe. Lindsey hands him a handkerchief and he holds it to his nose as blood stains the fabric. 

He takes the bus home, Gerard’s hand on Frank’s knee, softly smiling.

As Frank moves to get off at his stop, Gerard catches his arm and whispers quietly into his ear. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Gee.” He gives him a crooked smile, the bloody handkerchief still clutched in his hand.

Once inside his apartment, he doesn’t even listen out to see if anyone’s home, simply dragging himself to the bathroom, shutting the door, and taking a look in the mirror. There’s blood crusted under his nose and on his top lip. His bottom lip is split on the left side and there’s bruising beginning to appear on his right cheek. So, not too bad if he does say so himself. The other guy got it so much worse. He also discerns that his right ear has likely been hit in some way, there’s a bit of ringing coming from that side, but before he can move his hair to check, he hears footsteps near the bathroom, before someone knocks on the closed door. 

“Is that you, Frank?” 

It’s Nicole. Fuck. 

“Yeah,” he replies, edging his hair back to take a look at his ear. It’s  _ mostly _ okay. There’s a little blood trailing from it, but nothing too bad, right? 

“You’re home unusually early.” She taps the wall a little in confusion. “Don’t you usually go to your friend’s house?”

“Yeah,” is all he can think of to answer with. He takes another look at himself in the mirror, grimacing at his appearance. No matter how easily he got off, he’s still going to get in trouble. And Nicole, he knows, is going to freak out. He only met her two days ago, but that doesn’t matter, because she’s a nice lady and so she’s going to freak when met with a beat-up kid. 

She did say she had a son though,  _ maybe _ she would be okay, but then again, she did say that her son was a bit of a softie. Coulda been one of those kids like Gee, who get beat up for being different.

He decides ‘fuck it’ and opens the door. She pauses when it opens and when he brings his face up to meet hers, her features morph it into one of concern. 

“Oh, dear, what happened?” 

“Got into a fight,” he spits back, defending himself. She just sighs and leads him to the kitchen, wiping the blood smeared on his face and disinfecting the cut on his lip, which makes him wince. 

His hair has fallen back in place to frame his face, but she spots the sticky substance clumping small bits of hair together, and she takes his hair in one hand and holds it up like he did, frowning as she does so. 

“This isn’t good, you know that Frank.” 

“It’ll be fine.” He crosses his arms. She bites her lip but doesn’t mention it again, instead, cleaning it up and telling him she can’t really do anything about the bruise. He knows that, responding with a quick thank you before rushing to his room and lying back on his bed with his headphones and closing his eyes. 

He doesn’t even notice that he’s fallen asleep until there’s Nicole tapping him on the shoulder to inform him that dinner’s ready. 

His father doesn’t join them that night and in all honesty, he’s glad. 

“Why do you go out with dad?” He asks Nicole, and she shrugs. 

“I don’t know. It wasn’t supposed to be a long term thing. I’m not looking for love, I’m looking for companionship. Doesn’t have to be romantic.”

“Why stay then?” 

“I enjoy  _ your _ company. It’s like with Brendon all over again. Having someone to take care of.” 

He simply chuckles. “For the record, I enjoy your company too, more so than…” He motions to the empty seat. “ _ His. _ ”

* * *

Mikey shakes his head when Gerard goes to get off by their house.

“C’mon, I wanna go get something. Still got a shitload of money from ‘mom’. I saw the store on Sunday.”

Gerard lets out a little ‘ah’ and nods, sitting back down. “Okay.”

Half an hour later, Mikey has a case under his arm, holding a precious bass guitar inside it. A few picks are stuffed in his pocket and Gerard caries the amp with a frown. It’s heavy, okay. 

“We can pick up the other crap tomorrow,” Mikey tells him and he nods, thankful when they can finally get back on the bus. Hell, no is he carrying the damn thing all the way home. 

Their dad isn’t home by the time they troop up the stairs and Gerard sets the heavy thing on Mikey’s bed. Mikey places the case on the bed much gentler before carefully extracting his brand new bass guitar from it. 

It’s quite beautiful, really. Not the one he’s used to, but still a new favourite of his. Gerard leaves him alone to fuck around with it, and instead, he takes out his sketchbook and distractedly draws Fun Ghoul. 

Dinner is a little boring, aside from Mikey literally vibrating in anticipation to show their father what he bought today. Their dad sends Gerard a look and waits for an explanation, to which he receives none until dinner is finished and Gerard stays to clean up while Mikey rushes upstairs to get his bass and their father waits with worry in his eyes. 

When he sees the large case Mikey carries down, he raises his eyebrows and the boy just smiles, places the case down, opens it, and produces the bass guitar, holding it carefully in his arms. 

“Did you get this today?” Their father asks and Mikey simply nods. Gerard hums in agreement. 

“He just couldn’t wait.”

“Can you even play it?” Their father just questions, with a pained expression, believing both his sons to have made a massive mistake. He’s surprised when Mikey begins to play a few chords before letting out a little,

“Yep.” 

Their father just shakes his head and sighs. “Keep it down, alright?”

Gerard and Mikey share a grin and that’s that. 


	8. Welcome To...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> over 2100 words
> 
> i'm catching up to where i'm still writing, though i hope to stay ahead. hopefully i'll get more written in the next few days and finish it. 
> 
> not beta read, looking for a beta reader

“What are you doing!” Gerard whines as Lindsey pulls him along. Mikey’s running after them, her pace too fast for him. “Come on, Linds, just tell me what is going on.”

“Hurry up!” She calls back to Mikey, who shoots her a dirty look. 

She drags him around the block, to where Jamia and Ray wait, both glancing up as they round the corner. Mikey catches up after a moment, pausing to stare straight at Ray, while the curly haired man stares straight back. 

Gerard waits as they just stand there, looking at each other. He glances over at Jamia and sees her watching as well. Lindsey, right beside him, is tense. 

“Mikey…” 

“Ray…” 

Mikey doesn’t run up to him, not like with Gerard that night that feels like months ago but had only been barely a week. He just walks. He walks straight up to Ray, and slowly wraps his arms around Ray, burying his face in Ray’s shoulder. 

They end up in a circle as Lindsey begins to explain. 

“I’ve been reading up on all these books about, you know, alternate universes and magic and crap. All theoretical, but seeing as we’re all here, I’m assuming there’s truth to something at least.”

“So, do you have any idea how to get back?” Mikey asks after a moment.

“We need to understand why we’re here first,” Lindsey tells him. “There has to be some reason.”

“Like a lesson we’re supposed to be learning?” Gerard lies back on the grass. 

“Sounds like it,” Jamia agrees, hands getting lost in the sleeves of her hoodie as she rests her arms on her knees and her head on those. 

“We need to get Frank on board first…” Lindsey sighs. “But…”

They all share a groan as they wrack their brains for something. Then something sparks in Gerard’s head. 

“Maybe… music?” 

“Music?” Mikey frowns in confusion.

“Like…  _ our _ music. My Chemical Romance, you get me?”

Ray raises his eyebrows. “You mean, we just play for him?”

“Maybe… it’d be weird if we played  _ just _ for him. More so, we play maybe a few small bars or something, underground stuff.”

“We don’t have a drummer,” Mikey states. 

“Or a rhythm guitarist. We’ve done it before, but I’d rather not take on both roles,” Ray mentions. “And you can’t really play…”

Lindsey then buts in. “We’ll help. I’ll help with guitar.” She then looks over and Jamia. “Jamia will play drums.”

  
“Can you play drums?” Gerard asks as he frowns. 

“In this life, yes.” She then stands. “I’ve got them at home.”

“I’ve got a few guitars at home as well,” Ray adds. “You can borrow one, Lindsey.” 

“But… didn’t you just move in, Mikey? And you were at that stuck up school? Where are you supposed to get a bass?” Jamia asks, frowning in worry. 

Gerard giggles. “That’s funny. He just bought one yesterday.”

Jamia and Lindsey join him in his laughter, followed by Mikey and Ray. 

“Oh, fucking hell, this is so messed up,” Mikey curses. “Why can’t we just go back to before?”

Lindsey wipes the tears in her eyes, softly sighing as her hysterics die down. “I miss Bandit.” 

Gerard shuffles over to her and curls his arm around her waist. 

“Me too, Linds. Me too.”

* * *

Gerard’s humming a tune as the three of them hop off the bus. Frank shakes his head, smiling a little. Mikey adjusts his glasses and shares Frank’s smile behind Gerard’s head. Most of the time, Mikey leaves Frank to hang out with Gerard alone, which he does today, heading down the hall away from them. 

There are more paintings, completed and begun, hanging around the room. Frank knows Gerard is an artist, but he had no idea to what extent Gerard’s artwork spread.

“This…” He looks around in awe. “This is incredible. You’re incredible.”

Gerard gives him a small smile. “Thanks, Frank… I’m glad you think so.”

“Like, seriously. These are fucking amazing, you could like, sell this shit,” Frank tells him, and he’s being completely honest. The detail put into them is insane, especially knowing that it’s been such a short time since he’s started them, and Frank is impressed. “Or like, put them on display in an art gallery or something.”

Gerard bites his lip, blushing a little. “They’re not  _ that _ good, Frankie. But thank you.”

“Yeah, they are!” Frank says, and sends Gerard a look that stops him from rebutting the compliment. 

Gerard just settles on the bed and lies down. Frank, instead, lies on the ground, staring into space. He hums for a minute before sitting up. “Hey, can we listen to one of your records?”

“Huh?” Gerard mumbles. “What?”

“I said, can we listen to one of your records?”

“Right, yeah, sure, you pick one.” 

Frank stands up, finds one, and soon enough they’re listening to hard rock and Frank’s hands are involuntarily following the guitars. Gerard tilts his head so he can watch as Frank simply focuses on the music. 

Frank knows this is what he was made for, music. It’s his dream, to play in a band and make noise and sound. It’s as much his dream as being an artist is to Gerard, it’s his life. He has this feeling that both of them are made for more. 

He hopes they can both achieve their dreams. One day at least.

* * *

The first practice session goes well, and the following one. Jamia and Lindsey take a bit to pick up the songs, but they’re only sticking to a couple so it’s not that hard to get there. They stick to the simple stuff and build from there. 

At the beginning of their first session, they all sit down and decide exactly what songs they want to use. 

“It’s gotta be the standout ones. You know?” Mikey tells them. “Also ones that would gain us a lot of popularity, we need to play for a reasonable crowd, right?”

“Yeah, so obviously The Black Parade is right up there on our list,” Lindsey immediately states and they all nod. 

“We need shit that’ll attract attention. And stuff that’ll be more likely to trigger Frank’s memory.” Gerard swings his legs from the bench he’s sitting on. They’re practising in Ray’s garage because his mom is used to lots of noise. They think she’s just happy that Ray has friends to hang out with. 

“Stuff that’s usually on the setlist,” Gerard continues. “I’m Not Okay, Helena, Teenagers, Prison?” He lists them off on his fingers, pausing after the last one, unsure. 

Mikey gives him two thumbs up and he smiles over at his brother. 

“You guys could also play, like, a really old one. One of the first ones?” Jamia hums.

“Vampires?” Ray suggests.

“Guess so.” Gerard shrugs. 

“One, two, three, four, five, six. You girls think you can learn those?” Mikey asks. They both nod quickly. 

Practice goes reasonably smoothly, only meeting a few bumps in the road as Ray intructs Lindsey on Frank’s parts, and Jamia figures out the drums from simply the memory of listening. Hearing them play again certainly helps her, though. 

Gerard struggles with finding excuses to get out of hanging out, and he feels guilty to leave Frank out of the band. He’d co-written songs, played his fucking hardest at every show, and now they are excluding the guitarist from their little group. It hurts Gerard a lot. 

He knows Frank’s been noticing that he’s avoiding him, and at one point, it just becomes enough for Frank. 

“Gee!” Frank calls down the hall after Gerard attempts to ditch him again. It’s pretty much deserted, and Frank’s hostile tone has the lingering students rushing out. Gerard turns around and stares his best friend down, before slumping in defeat and walking up to him. 

“Frank…”

“Come on, let’s go somewhere else…” 

Gerard follows his best friend with his eyes glued to the floor. He feels sick with guilt, and that guilt forces him every step of the way until they’re around the back of the school, back where Lindsey had kissed him. Back where he’d realised that he has allies aside from Mikey. 

“Frank…?” 

Gerard’s up against the wall, and Frank looks quite a bit ready to hit him, which Gerard really doesn’t want to happen because that would just hurt both of them in the long run. 

Frank almost goes to wind up for a punch, before his arms swing lamely to his sides. 

“Gee, what the fuck is going on?”

“Frank? What do you mean?” Except Gerard knows exactly what he means.

“Why are you… why are you avoiding me? Ignoring me? What did I do?” Frank looks like he’s trying not to cry and Gerard bites his lip as they turn downwards into a frown. 

“I… I’m sorry… I… you didn’t do anything wrong,” Gerard says in such a quiet voice that he’s sure Frank can’t hear him. 

“But I must’ve! Because… because you picked Lindsey over me!” 

Gerard would’ve stumbled backwards if he wasn’t leaning against the wall. He’s so stumped as to what Frank means. 

“Frankie?”

“I just... “ Now Frank actually is crying. Gerard’s heart breaks at Frank’s sniffles. “I know you’ll never…”

It dawns on him. Just like in his actual reality, with the band, Frank likes him. How had he not realised it sooner? Sure, Frank was pushing Lindsey on him, but that was just because…

“Oh, fuck, Frankie…” Gerard grabs the shorter boy’s shoulders. Frank looks away, obviously trying to hide his tears. So Gerard hooks his arms under Frank’s armpits and threads them through the hair on the back of Frank’s head. He pulls the boy close, face pressed into Gerard’s shoulder. “Frank…”

It’s not long before Frank is forcing himself back, tears of frustration now running down his face. 

“Get off!” He hisses, a look of hurt crossing his expression. “Just… please… don’t do that to me…”

Gerard frowns, biting his lip again. “Fuck… Frankie…”

“Don’t look at me like that!”

“Frank… just… tell me.” Gerard reaches forward but Frank flinches back. “Please…”

“Tell you what? Huh?!” Frank stalks up to him, and Gerard just keeps the pained expression on his face, not like he can muster up anything to cover it at this point. “Tell you how I have a massive fucking crush on you, despite, one, you’re straight, and two, you got a fucking hot ass girlfriend. Fuck, Gee, all I want is for you to be happy, but you keep ignoring me for your fucking girlfriend or brother or someone  _ fucking _ else.”

Gerard gulps, working up the courage, and Frank looks like he wants to take back everything he’s just said. He looks so absolutely terrified that he’s ruined their friendship, that he looks like he’s not above pleading for them to just forget this shit happened. 

And then Gerard kisses Frank, and it’s sloppy and imperfect, and the whole atmosphere is just like the stage, back when they knew it meant something, but they couldn’t put their finger on exactly what it meant. Gerard’s hands hold tightly to the sides of Frank’s face before they move further back and lace into Frank’s hair, pulling gently. Frank’s hands instinctively curl around Gerard’s waist, but he hasn’t started kissing back yet, because he’s still in complete shock. 

When he finally does start kissing back, it’s uneasy and hesitant, like Gerard will pull back and laugh at him. But he’d never do that. And, somewhere inside, Frank knows that. 

Oddly enough, at least for Frank, he pulls back first, Gerard’s hands still occasionally tugging at his hair. 

“Wh… what?” Frank can barely speak, and Gerard has to force back a giggle just so Frank doesn’t think this is all a joke. 

“Who told you I was straight, Frank? Was it me? If so, feel free to punch the old me in the face for me,” Gerard says and actually does giggle this time. “Fuck, Frankie, it’s been you this whole time.”

“But…” Frank looks down, the anger and confidence completely dissipated from where it was before. “Lindsey?”

Gerard gives Frank a big smile and laughs again. “Me and her, no… that was  _ never _ going to work, ‘specially ‘cause she loves Jamia.”

Frank splutters. “She… what? What the fuck is going on?” He pulls himself from Gerard’s grip, which Gerard allows after a second. “This still doesn’t explain why you’ve been ignoring me… Don’t think a kiss and a bit of a cry will get you out of an explanation.”

Gerard frowns again, trying to come up with something that won’t hurt Frank but on the other hand, won’t hurt Frank. “It’s a surprise for you I’ve been working on. So you’re not allowed to ask any other questions!”

Frank stares at him and then chuckles. “Fuck, I thought you hated me or something. Guess it’s the exact opposite.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally we've got our frerard
> 
> hope you enjoyed


	9. Surprise?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 2900 words
> 
> Important chapter, very important chapter

Mikey cracks up when Gerard recounts the afternoon prior. 

“You fucking kissed him.” 

“Yeah,” Gerard says, defensive with his arms crossed. “I did.”

“Damn, it’s like the good ol’ days. Linds and Jamia ‘kay with this arrangement?” Mikey asks as he leans over the bench before he turns around and continues to dig through the cupboard for god knows what. 

“I think they’re too busy with each other to bother their  _ ‘husbands’ _ .” 

“Ouch, Lindsey isn’t even my wife and I felt that.” Mikey then slams the cupboard door shut without retrieving anything. 

“What  _ are _ you looking for?”

“Something to eat.” 

“But there’s food in there,” Gerard says and Mikey shrugs. 

  
“I don’t like the food in there.”

A sudden knock on the door startles them. Gerard sighs, sending Mikey a look, and then walks over to the door and opens it. Frank stands there, looking awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin, with an arm behind his back. 

“Frankie?” 

Frank bites his lip, revealing his hidden arm and what he had been holding. 

Roses. As red as Gerard’s hair. And as red as Gerard’s face probably is. 

“I know it’s cliche, but here,” Frank says as he thrusts the roses in Gerard’s face. Gerard blushes more and takes them with a small giggle.

“Thanks… Come in, Frankie.”

He’s taken to calling Frank ‘Frankie’ quite a bit. Sure, he still refers to him as Frank, but he calls him by his pet name a lot more than in the other world, back where they were still married and separate, despite both knowing that they love each other to hell and back. 

When/If they get back, Gerard is determined to marry the fuck out of Frank, if it’s the last thing he does. 

Mikey gawks at Gerard as he withdraws a vase from one of the bottom cupboards, which is filled with dust as if it hasn’t been used in a long time, which it probably hasn’t. He washes the vase out, fills it with a bit of water, and places the roses in the water, turning back around to smile at Frank, who grins brightly at him. 

“We’ll be up in my room if you need us,” Gerard tells Mikey and his brother makes a face. 

“If I hear anything resembling moaning coming from that room, I will literally murder you.” 

It’s Frank’s turn to blush and Gerard wacks Mikey on the arm, which gets a yelp as Mikey runs out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Gerard takes the vase in one hand, and Frank’s hand in the other, and then leads him up the staircase with his hand in the air, walking in front of him. Once they reach Gerard’s room, he swings the door shut and gently places the vase with flowers on his desk, beside a detailed sketch of Frank himself, lying open for anyone to see. 

Frank then reaches over, hooks his fingers around Gerard’s wrist, and spins him around, pulling him close. Gerard responds by placing his hands on Frank's arms and pretty much tossing him onto the bed, jumping on after and sitting, hunched over, with his knees on either side of Frank’s hips, his palms pressing into the comforter beside both of Frank's ears, face inches apart from Frank’s.

Before Gerard does anything else, though, he asks something. “Is this… Is this okay?”

Frank can’t seem to nod quickly enough. And that’s all the invitation Gerard needs because suddenly Gerard’s lips are locked on Frank’s and Frank’s arms are coming up to thread through Gerard’s long hair.

When they break apart, Frank starts to laugh. 

“Who would've thought it would be you on top of me?” He leans up and presses his forehead against Gerard’s. 

“You’re smaller than me,” Gerard shoots back. Frank shrugs as best he can as in the position he’s in, and then he moves to kiss Gerard again, and they both have wide smiles on their faces.

* * *

All Frank knows about Nicole’s son is that he’s in his twenties, he’s gay, he can’t really sit still due to his ADHD, he’s living with his boyfriend, and he’s apparently ‘the sweetest little cinnamon roll’. Frank disagrees, because obviously, in his opinion, that title goes to Gerard. 

But, other than that, he has no idea. He hasn’t seen a single picture of Brendon, or his boyfriend for that matter, and so he has no idea what to expect. When the doorbell, a thing no one had used since Frank and his dad moved there, rings, Nicole smiles at Frank and rushes to open it. He finds the confidence in himself to follow her to the door, standing a few feet back as she opens the door wide. 

Two guys are standing there and whatever guesses Frank had about either of their appearances dissipate. He’d been thinking, tall and skinny, blonde hair like Nicole, a bit of stubble or a beard/goatee of some kind, t-shirt and jeans maybe?

They’re both clean-shaven, one has curly hair that’s mostly tucked into a hat with flowers threaded through a ribbon. The other has straighter hair, done in a sorta Beatles-esque way, that sinks low on his tall forehead. The curly-haired guy wears a flower-patterned long sleeve, striped pants with dress shoes, and a brown scarf wrapped around his neck. The straight-haired guy has on a black dress shirt, a red blazer, black pants, and dress shoes. 

They both brighten as they catch Nicole’s eyes, and she seems to glow even more than she had the whole morning as she prepared lunch for the four of them. 

She goes to hug the straight-haired guy first, who Frank concludes must be Brendon. Especially when she cries ‘Brendon’ as she throws her arms around him. Then she does the same to the curly-haired guy, calling him ‘Ryan’. Which means he’s the boyfriend. 

Brendon looks at Frank curiously and both Nicole and Ryan follow his gaze. Nicole lights up. 

“Oh, Brendon, darling, this is Frank!”

Brendon holds out his hand for Frank to shake. “I’m Brendon.”

“Frank, obviously.”

“This is Ryan,” Brendon introduces, and Ryan shakes his head before taking Frank’s hand from Brendon and into his own for a quick yet firm shake. 

“Come in! Come in!” Nicole says, gesturing for them to follow her to the dining room. As they sit, Ryan places his hat down on the table beside him, running a quick hand through his hair to smooth down any hat hair he’d received.

“Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you, Mom, but where exactly are we? And who’s he? Are you living here?” Brendon asks and Nicole laughs at all his questions. 

“I do live here, don’t I Frank?” She smiles at him and he gives her a small smile in return. 

“Yeah. She moved in ‘cause she was dating my dad.” 

“Was?” Ryan cuts in. 

“Was,” Nicole confirms, nodding. “We had a fight, and he left. Hasn’t been here in two weeks. Of course, I’ve stayed to look after Frank. If we have to wait another week, I will go through the proper channels and everything.” 

Brendon quirks his lips. “You gonna do it, Mom?”

“She will, Brendon, there’s no doubt about it.” Ryan then grins across the table from Frank. “Welcome to the family, Frank.”

* * *

Frank knocks on the Way’s front door and waits. Gerard had said that he is going to be home around the time Frank has shown up, but he gets no response. He knocks again, harder this time. 

Mr Way answers, looking haggard and a little annoyed. Frank can now hear the racket coming from upstairs. Loud, pounding music echoes down the steps. Frank raises his eyebrows in confusion and ascends the steps, pausing when he hears a voice mixed into the sound guitars and drums. 

It’s a little familiar, but Frank can’t put his finger on why. He follows the sound not to Gerard’s room, but to Mikey’s. 

_ “Way down, way down. Way down, way down.”  _

Frank’s brows furrow in confusion and he places his hand on the door handle just as the song seems to enter the next chorus. 

_ “I miss you, I miss you, so far. And the collision of your kiss. That made it so hard.” _

He opens the door and his eyes widen as he watches music blasting from speakers, Mikey pluck at a bass guitar, and Gerard has his fingers wrapped around a microphone, screaming into it with the voice of an angel. 

_ “When will I miss you? When will I miss you so far? And the collision of your kiss. That made it so-”  _ Gerard trails off as he spots Frank in the doorway, dropping the mic on the bed and hitting pause on the stereo. Mikey frowns as his fingers falter. 

“Gee? What is- oh…” Mikey glances up at him. Frank is still wide-eyed and slack-jawed, staring at Gerard in shock. Gerard seems to gulp, though the action seems to have been a discrete attempt at soothing Gerard’s nerves. 

“Surprise?” He shrugs. Mikey cracks up, setting his bass down and getting up. 

“I’ll leave you lovebirds to sort this out.” 

Gerard flips his brother out as Mikey leaves the room. In return, Mikey slams the door shut and Gerard groans into his hand. 

“What the fuck?”

Gerard shrugs with an unsure smile. “I can sing, I guess…” 

Frank breathes in and out for a few seconds before speaking. “Yeah, you fucking can. Holy shit, your voice is amazing. Sing more for me!” He chooses to ignore that Gerard kept it from him.

Gerard bites his lip, thinking, and then begins to sing. His voice is low and has an edge to it, unnerving and a little creepy.  _ “Saints protect her now. Come angels of the lord. Come angels of unknown.” _ Each word is elongated, drawn out. It almost makes Frank shiver. 

Gerard then smiles at him, waiting for Frank to express his thoughts. 

“Holy fuck… you’re… your voice is fucking incredible Gee.”

He rushes over, putting his arms under Gerard’s armpits and pulling him up, dragging him out the door. Gerard has little protest, willingly being led out of his brother’s room and into his own. He calls down to Mikey to say that they’re going to be in his room and that he should leave them alone, which receives a mock gag and a ‘whatever’. 

Frank shuts the door and Gerard flops down on the bed. 

“Keep singing… please. I don’t care if it’s the same song over and over again. I just love your voice so much.”

Gerard giggles, covering his face in an attempt to hide his blush. “Okay…” He pulls Frank onto the bed and throws himself on top of him, mouth trailing down the side of Frank’s face as he sings. 

_ “Long ago,” _ he starts, breathing heavily on Frank’s cheek.  _ “Just like the hearse you die to get in again.”  _ Frank almost melts under Gerard, taking in Gerard’s beautiful singing and the way Gerard’s eyes rake over Frank’s face, lingering at his lips.  _ “We are.” _ He pauses for dramatic effect before continuing,  _ “so far from you.” _

Frank can’t take it anymore, silencing Gerard’s lips with his own. 

* * *

“So… you can sing, your brother can play bass, and you didn’t tell me?” Frank whines as they sit under their usual tree, joined by Mikey, Jamia, Lindsey, and this other guy that Mikey introduces as Ray. 

“I didn’t  _ know _ I could sing. And Mikey… well, that’s a recent thing that’s happened…”

“Can you play, Frank?” Ray asks, his curly afro swaying in the wind. Frank has to say, it is glorious. Like, damn. 

“Yeah, just guitar.” 

“He writes songs too!” Gerard exclaims.

“That’s really cool, Frank,” Jamia comments. “I play drums.” 

“I play guitar and bass,” Lindsey adds. 

“I play guitar as well,” Ray mentions and then smiles at him. “Love to jam sometime.”

“Yeah… uh… sure?” Frank shrugs and Gerard wraps his arm around the shorter boy. 

“Yeah, we can all play together!” Gerard flashes him a wide grin. “Right, guys?”

“What, at my house?” Ray asks, and Gerard nods with an excited tremble in his fingers. 

The bell rings out loudly and Frank jumps up, followed by Jamia. They’re heading to the only class that Frank doesn’t share with Gerard. He waves them goodbye and Lindsey kisses Jamia on the cheek before skipping off with her hand almost crushing Gerard’s wrist. 

* * *

“What the fuck are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… we know the songs, but he  _ doesn’t _ !”

“We need to get him to remember  _ before _ we play together. Maybe that’ll make it so we go back?”

Gerard holds his face in his hands, growling in frustration. “Fuck!”   
  


“Gerard, it’ll be okay, I promise.” She moves her hand so it is slowly tracing circles on his back. “We’ll get back and see Bandit again, and maybe in a few years, you can marry Frank and I can marry Jamia. That is... if we remember this at all…”

“What?” He chokes out, his head flicking upwards and his eyes meeting hers. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.. It’s just a possibility we have to keep in mind.”

“But… if we were sent here for a reason, why would we just forget as soon as we get back?”

She frowns. “That’s a good point… But… we don’t know why we’re here. It might not be us…”

“What?”

“What if it’s  _ them _ .”

“ _ Them? _ ” Gerard asks, confused. 

  
  
“Yeah, the people that used to inhabit these bodies, before we turned up.”

“Oh… well… what if it goes both ways?”

She hums. “Maybe…” She then stops as they get to Gerard’s class. “But… no matter what, we need to get back.”

He nods in agreement. “We need to get back and make things right.”

* * *

Brendon and Ryan are staying over for dinner, which wasn’t something Frank had been made aware of previously, so as he and Gerard make their way to the front of the apartment building and Frank spots Ryan’s car, a nice, red mini with white outlining, he takes a moment to sigh before leading his red-haired boyfriend up the stairs and to his door. 

“Home sweet home,” Frank says, slipping his key out of his pocket and shoving it into the lock. It takes a few seconds to get the thing to turn and Gerard giggles. 

As soon as he gets the door open, Nicole immediately darts out and greets him, Gerard standing awkwardly at his side. 

  
“Ryan and Brendon are here, aren’t they?” 

She nods and then switches her gaze to look at the red-head beside Frank. 

“Oh, uh, Nicole, this is Gerard. My…”

“Oh! Your boyfriend!” 

He blushes as her cry makes Brendon emerge from the kitchen with an excited look on his face. 

“Frank’s got a boyfriend?!”

Frank ushers Gerard in and shuts the door behind him. Gerard keeps squinting at Brendon for some reason. Ryan peeks from around the corner as well, looking Gerard up and down with curiosity in his eyes, as well as a bit of recognition. Frank attempts to ignore it. 

“Uh, yeah, this is Gerard, guys.” Frank flashes them a smile and Brendon slaps him on the back. 

  
“Good job dude. Quite a catch you got there,” Brendon says and wiggles his eyebrows at Gerard, which makes Gerard go as red as his hair and Ryan cuff his boyfriend over the head. Nicole shakes her head. 

  
“Come on, Gerard, I assume you’re eating with us.”

“If I’m not intruding.”

“No, of course not!” She dusts off her hand and then returns to the kitchen. “Dinner won’t be long.”

Frank takes Gerard’s hand and begins to tug it like a little kid. “C’mon, let’s go to my room.” He whines. Brendon chuckles and Ryan taps Gerard on the shoulder, whispering something in Gerard’s ear that has him going red again. 

As they walk down the hall, Gerard bites his lip. “And I thought Brendon would be the over sexual one.”

Frank cackles. “Oh my god.”

* * *

_ “Meet me in the kitchen after dinner?” _

That’s what Ryan had said. And now Gerard stands there, running a hand through his hair as he waits. All the washing up has been done and Gerard has insisted that Frank have a shower, as the guy honestly is starting to smell. 

Ryan ducks into the kitchen, calling out for Brendon to wait for him in the dining/living room. 

“Hey…”

“Hey, Gerard.”

“So… you remember? Panic? My Chem?”

“Yep,” Ryan replies as he digs through the cupboards to find a packet of cookies. Brendon must have requested them. “And so do you. But Frank…”

“Nor Brendon, obviously.” 

“Nope. Spencer is in Vegas, as is Jon. But, luckily, Spencer was my best friend in this life too, so I have his number. And Jon is dating him.”

“Either of them remember?”

“Spencer remembers bits and pieces, early days I’m guessing. Jon remembers everything, which fucks me up.” 

“Does he remember this life though?”

“Yeah, but I don’t. You?”

“Yeah.”

  
  
“Anyone else on your side?”

“Yep. We’ve got everyone aside from Frank. You got any idea why this has happened?”

“No fucking clue, man. Wish I could tell you.”

Gerard digs into his pocket, withdrawing his phone. “Here, put your number in and I’ll text you. We need to meet up since Lindsey thinks she has some ideas about what’s going on.” Ryan leans over and takes the phone, typing in his number.

“Thanks, man. I’m glad I’m apparently not alone.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brendon and Ryan make their debut. 
> 
> Also, this is the closest I will ever write to smut. No joke. 
> 
> Lots of stuff happened in this chapter, Frank knows about the whole music stuff, some lovey stuff, as I said before, Ryan and Brendon turn up. Ryan remembers, Nicole is the best person in existence, Gerard is so in love with Frank it's not funny. 
> 
> Brendon and Ryan look like they do in the Pretty Odd era. 
> 
> Songs   
\- Cemetery Drive  
\- Interlude  
\- Helena


	10. Paralysis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 2900 words
> 
> obligatory flashback chapter. fills in some of the gaps
> 
> emetophobia warning. it's not explicit, but be warned

_ Ryan feels like he’s being strangled when he wakes up, and he scratches at his neck in an attempt to free himself from the sensation. He kicks about in the dark, the soft bedding under his back unfamiliar. His eyes are closed as he chokes and he can vaguely hear someone panicking beside him. As the strangling feeling begins to ebb away, he slowly opens his eyes. Someone has flicked a lamp on and his eyes are searching for the source of light and the source of whoever is making so much noise.  _

_ It’s Brendon.  _

_ Irritation bubbles inside him before confusion and longing take its place. What the hell happened last night? Did he get really drunk or something? Call Brendon and beg him to take him back? _

_ Okay, maybe he could see that happening. But he definitely wouldn’t believe that Brendon would actually take him back.  _

_ The choking sensation finally leaves him panting and taking in as much oxygen as physically possible, hunched over as Brendon attempts to stop himself from shaking Ryan about.  _

_ “Oh my god! Ryan! Are you okay?” Brendon asks as Ryan greedily inhales air at a fast pace.  _

_ “B-Brendon…” He can barely get out, his throat raw and feeling like it’s covered in bruises. “What the fuck happened last night?” _

_ Brendon sends him a confused and concerned look, not answering his question and instead, bouncing off the bed and taking hold of his phone, which looks weirdly large for a mobile. He dials a number and Ryan sits, bent over himself and beginning to feel a little ill, as Brendon shares a speedy conversation on the phone. He then sets the phone down and goes back to Ryan, who has gone white.  _

_ “Ryan?” _ _   
_

_ “Brendon… gonna throw… up…” _ __   
  


_ Brendon quickly yanks Ryan out of bed and his legs drag on the ground as Brendon hauls him over to the connecting bathroom, where he instantly leans over the toilet bowl and begins to throw up, Brendon crouched down next to him, hands holding back Ryan’s hair.  _

_ Exhausted, confused, and worried, Ryan lets himself slide down to the floor, the ceramic tiles cool against his face. Brendon still looks a little panicked, so Ryan sends him a soft smile he hasn’t used since the band broke up, and passes out right there on the bathroom floor of what he assumes is either a hotel room or Brendon’s apartment. He’s not sure which one he’d prefer.  _

_ When he opens his eyes, he’s back in the bed he was in before, except Brendon is missing. Or at least, he’s missing at first, because as soon as Ryan makes a noise, Brendon is right there, making sure he stays in bed.  _

_ “Shit, Ryan, you scared me last night!” He says, small tears pricking his eyes. “How are you feeling? Are you still sick?” _

_ “N-no…” He whispers back, throat still sore and confusion still plaguing his mind. “What’s going on?” _

_ “Huh? Ryan, what’s wrong? You were really sick last night, remember? You were choking, I think, and then you were throwing up, and then you passed out. I had to carry you back to bed.” Brendon places the back of his hand to Ryan’s forehead. “Thank god, you don’t seem to have a fever.”  _

_ “Fever?” He says blearily, still fucking confused.  _

_ “I was worried I’d have to call an ambulance or something. Are you feeling up for food?” _

_ He has to think for a few seconds before he nods slowly. “Think so…” _

_ Brendon helps him out of bed and Ryan dizzily stumbles a few steps before Brendon leads him down the hall and to a kitchen table, talking the entire time about how worried he was.  _

_ “I even called mom, she’s coming over. She was really worried about you last night too. Told me to take you to the hospital if you weren’t okay in the next few hours. As soon as I get you breakfast I’ll call her, I promise.” _

_ “You can’t cook for shit…” Ryan finds himself muttering, ignoring how casual this whole inaction is.  _

_ “Oi! Yes I can!” Brendon rushes to defend himself, just like Ryan knew he would. This gets a little bit of a laugh out of Ryan, who’s unsure if this is just a dream or not. If it is, then he’s gonna stick around for a while, because he misses this, the choking and passing out aside.  _

_ It turns out Brendon can make a decent combo of toast smeared with butter, and a few fried eggs. He slowly brings the fork to his mouth every time, as if he’s scared they’re poisoned, but they taste just fine. Nothing extraordinary, but nothing he’d expect from Brendon. Maybe, in the year they’ve spent apart, Brendon has shaped up in the art of cooking.  _

_ “Wait…” Ryan thinks aloud, backtracking to something Brendon had said earlier. His… mom? An odd choice to call in this situation, as Spencer would be a much more adept choice, no matter how much they definitely weren’t on speaking terms as of current. Or even Jon, because no matter how little Jon talks with the other two, he does miss them, as does Ryan himself. Except Jon is much more vocal with his feelings about the breakup than Ryan is. He asks Brendon in a soft voice, “Spencer? Jon?” _

_ Spencer should be nearby if this really is Brendon’s apartment, which is more likely the case. It’s not a hotel room, and it most certainly isn’t Ryan’s place. And if Ryan’s here, Jon is not far behind.  _

_ “Spencer? Jon? What are you talking about, Ryan? They’re in Vegas. I thought you knew that…” _

_ Ryan furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Huh?” He then digs his palms into his eyes. “What the fuck is going on?” _

_ Brendon jumps up from his place at the small table, fidgeting nervously. “I’m gonna… I’m gonna call mom again, see how far away she is. And I might call Spencer... if you want me to.”  _

_ “Please,” Ryan whispers, resting his head on his crossed arms. Brendon goes about like a mother hen, running his hands through Ryan’s hair, placing a glass of water beside him, and rubbing his back a little before he leaves the room to retrieve his phone. Ryan’s starting to feel a little ill again, but he’s determined to keep the meal he’s just eaten down.  _

_ “Hey, mom… yeah, how long are you gonna be? He’s still not looking good…” Brendon hums worriedly into the phone, pacing back and forth while Ryan closes his eyes and makes an attempt to will the nausea away. “Okay… okay, thanks, mom.” Brendon fiddles with his phone for a minute before he kneels down beside Ryan.  _

_ “Hey, Ry, can you look at me for a minute?” _

_ Ryan squints at Brendon, still not quite believing how helpful and kind he’s being. Again, what the actual fuck happened last night? The last thing he remembers is being stretched out on the couch, talking on the phone to his manager about postponing the tour in order for him to have a bit more of a rest and recovery from the anniversary.  _

_ He must’ve blacked out, gone down to the bar and drank himself half to death and Brendon must’ve found him and felt bad for his sorry ass. Doesn’t explain why Brendon’s acting like this now, though. So sweet and charming and nice. _

_ “Yeah?” Ryan mumbles, pushing down bile that threatens to come up.  _

_ “I’m gonna ring Spencer now. Mom’s gonna be here in less than an hour, so in a minute I’ll get you back to bed, you still don’t look very good.” _

_ “Can I… can I talk to Spencer?” Ryan asks and Brendon pats his head a little.  _

_ “Of course, just let me talk to him for a minute.” _

_ “Okay…” He rests his head back on the table as Brendon directs his attention back to his phone, staying kneeling on the floor at Ryan’s side as he calls their mutual friend.  _

_ “Hey, Spencer.” Ryan can hear the person on the other side respond to Brendon.  _

** _“Hey, Brendon. What’s up?” _ ** _ Spencer sounds sleepy, like he’s been awoken without his consent.  _ ** _“Fuck, what’re you doing up so early?”_ **

_ “Uh… Ryan…” _

** _“What’s wrong with Ryan.” _ ** _ Spencer immediately asks in a suddenly serious and incredibly sober tone.  _

_ “He’s kinda unwell. Mom’s coming over to check on him, but he was like… choking I think last night. And then throwing up… He’s really white in the face right now too, can barely walk on his own. He’s eaten, but he seems to be having trouble keeping it down.” _

_ Spencer swears over the line and Ryan groans into the table as another wave of nausea overtakes him.  _

** _“Shit, was that him? Can I talk to him?”_ ** _ Spencer suddenly asks and Brendon looks down at him with a questioning gaze.  _

_ “Ry, you wanna talk to him?” _

_ Ryan manages a little nod. Brendon holds the phone to Ryan’s ear.  _

_ “Spence…” He mumbles into the phone.  _

** _“Fuck, Ryan, you sound like shit. Are you okay?”_ ** _ There’s so much concern and worry in his voice that it would make Ryan jump if that wouldn’t lead to him leaving his previously ingested breakfast all over the kitchen floor.  _

_ “Not really no. But…” He can barely hear his own voice at this point it’s so quiet. Brendon hovers beside him, ready to catch him if he somehow falls out of the chair. “What the fuck is going on? Do you know?” _

** _“What?”_ **

_ “Like, Brendon’s being really nice to me… it’s freaking me out…” _ __   
  


** _“He’s your boyfriend, of course he’s being nice to you. What’s wrong?”_ **

_ Ryan looks at the phone, incredulous, and then his gaze darts up to meet Brendon’s eyes, which are filled with so much genuine worry and concern, that Ryan forgets how to breathe for a few seconds. When he finally does remember, it’s because Brendon is almost screaming in his face for him to breathe and he’s beginning to feel light-headed. More than a few seconds then. _

_ He licks his lips before he tries something. _

_ “Panic?” _

_ Spencer seems to freeze.  _ ** _“Uh… I’ll get Jon to call you back…”_ **

_ Ryan motions for Brendon to take the phone back and he stands up, talking to Spencer a little more before he hangs up and pulls Ryan’s chair back carefully. He then crouches down, gets one of his skinny arms under Ryan’s knees and the other around Ryan’s shoulders, and lifts him up from the chair, carrying him down the hall with legs trembling a little under the weight. Brendon then sets him back down in bed and tugs the covers up to Ryan’s chin.  _

_ “Mom will be here soon, Ryan. I’ll wake you when she gets here. Now please… go to sleep and get better. I… I hate seeing you so sick and miserable.”  _

_ Ryan blinks up at him as Brendon slinks out of the room and quietly closes the door behind him. Left all alone, Ryan finds himself unable to stay conscious. So he drifts off, comfortable yet confused out of his mind.  _

* * *

_ _

_ Lindsey doesn’t remember what happened. She was putting Bandit to bed when suddenly she wakes up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, freezing cold. She sits up, her eyes trying to take in everything at once. Band posters, a pile of clothes in the corner, a desk in another corner covered in books and with what might be a laptop sitting on it, she’s not sure. _

_ She slides out of bed, finding herself to be a little shorter than normal. Not by much, but by enough that it throws her off completely. She looks in the wardrobe, finding clothes she hasn’t even seen since she was a teenager, and begins to put something on other than the ill-fitting t-shirt and sweatpants combo. A short, black skirt, white blouse, red scarf, and some white socks to warm her freezing feet. It’s not like it’s cold, it’s just her feet are cold for some reason.  _

_ She doesn’t really understand what’s going on, so she leaves what she assumes is her bedroom and explores down the hall and into a dining room. A woman who she vaguely recognises as someone who resembles her mother is sitting at the table, sipping from a cup of coffee while texting on a large, flat phone.  _

_ The woman doesn’t even look up at her, simply waving a hello. Lindsey isn’t exactly sure what she’s supposed to be doing, so she sits herself down at the table, looking around aimlessly.  _

_ “Honey?” The woman asks after a few minutes of Lindsey staring off into space. “Sweetie, look at me.” _

_ She jumps, blinking as she makes eye contact with the woman, who looks overly concerned for Lindsey, despite the lack of any harm. The woman jumps out of her seat and stands over Lindsey, placing the back of her hand against Lindsey’s forehead, murmuring something to herself.  _

_ “Uh…” Lindsey isn’t sure what to say.  _

_ “Oh god… No… Back to bed, Lindsey.” _

_ She sends the woman a confused look. What? Lindsey knows she doesn’t have a fever, because she’s not feeling any symptoms of any kind. She feels fine, at least physically. She’s not quite sure what’s going on. This could all be a dream, but it also might not be, and she reasons that just in case it’s not, she shouldn’t go off and do stupid shit.  _

_ The woman pulls her up from her seat with a strength Lindsey hadn’t seen coming, and it shocks her so much that she suddenly falls limp in the woman’s arms. At least, she thinks that’s why. Except, she has a feeling it’s not, especially when her legs become paralysed and begin to drag across the floor.  _

_ Lindsey tries to speak, but she can barely form coherent words at this point, confusion interrupting her conscious thought too much. Her words begin to come out more as mumbles of, “What… what are you… stop… please… what?” _

_ The woman reaches down and carries her all the way with ease, setting her down on the bed so her legs are hanging off. Lindsey finds herself flopping back, and the woman sits upright beside her, running her hands through Lindsey’s hair.  _

_ “What’s… what’s going on?” Lindsey asks quietly and the woman sighs with worry in her voice.  _

_ “Oh dear, I hoped this wouldn’t happen…” _

_ “Where’s… where’s Gee?” Where’s her husband? And her daughter?  _

_ “Gee?” The woman questions, confused yet all too willing to listen, wanting to get as much information as possible. “Who, sweetie?” _

_ Lindsey does as good of a shake of her head as she can in her half paralysed and exhausted state. “No… Jamia?” She mumbles and the woman quickly hops up, seeming somewhat excited.  _

_ “Oh, Jamia! Of course, I’ll get the phone for you immediately. Stay there.” _

_ It’s not like she could go anywhere else. Lindsey decides to not try and voice this thought though, too much effort.  _

_ She can barely feel her eyelids slide shut when the woman is back, tapping her gently. “Jamia’s on the phone, sweetheart. Can you talk to her for a bit?” She pleads and Lindsey softly hums an ‘okay’. The woman holds the phone to Lindsey’s ear.  _

_ “Lindsey!” She can hear come through the phone. It’s Jamia alright, but she’s younger than Lindsey remembers. Lindsey struggles, getting circulation back into her hand, then her wrist, then her arm, and finally in her shoulder. She moves it to clutch tightly to the phone and the woman seems pleased with this, nodding to Lindsey before ducking out of the room after telling Lindsey that she’d be back in a few minutes.  _

_ “Jamia…” She feels a little out of breath and she’s sure that comes across in her voice. _

_ “Oh, no… your mom mentioned that you were ill again, but it sounds bad…” _

_ “Mom?” Lindsey’s face contorts into one of confusion. “Jamia, what’s going on…? Where… where am I?” _

_ She listens as Jamia picks apart Lindsey’s questions, but she’s not done.  _

_ “Where’s Gee? Bandit?” She feels a little desperate, and so she keeps going. “Frank? Mikey? Ray even?” _

_ Jamia goes completely quiet, and Lindsey can’t even hear her breathing, so she’s worried Jamia has hung up, but before she can even think of checking, Jamia is speaking again.  _

_ “Do you… remember?” _

_ “Remember what?” _

_ “Like… your band? Their band? Our husbands?” _

_ Lindsey pauses. Of course, she remembers. But… is she not supposed to? What’s going on? _

_ “Yes.” _

__   
_   
_ __ The woman comes back in. 

_ “Are you still okay, Lindsey?”  _

_ Lindsey hums another ‘yes’ and the woman ducks back out of the room.  _

_ “But… it’s not like with me, is it? You don’t know where you are or who people are.” _

_ “No.” _ __   
  


_ “Shit,” Jamia swears. “That’s not good at all… Okay.” She breathes before explaining. “We’re in a different universe.” _

_ Lindsey chokes out a laugh.  _

_ “I’m not joking. We really are. Me and you, we remember. But we’re in different positions, right? Because I remember this life and the other one with the boys and the bands, but you. You only remember that, right?” _

_ “Yeah…” She whispers, voice becoming weaker.  _

_ “Ah, fuck… just… sleep, okay? I’ll talk to you later, explain what else is going on.” _

_ “Tell me why I feel like this…” _

_ “I will, later, I promise.” _

_ Lindsey scrunches up her eyes as she attempts to fend off exhaustion. The phone slips out of her grasp just as the woman comes back in. Lindsey blinks her eyes open and the woman takes the phone, hanging up with a quick apology to Jamia, and then she picks Lindsey up and sets her in the bed properly.  _

_ “Sleep, darling. You’ll get to talk to Jamia again later…” She still sounds worried, but Lindsey brushes it off. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is also a flashback chapter, but don't worry, it gets back to the main plot soon. this is just to fill in the gaps and explain bits and pieces, flesh out a few characters too


	11. Vegas or Jersey?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost 2200 words
> 
> another flashback chapter

_ Jon calls Brendon much later and Brendon leaves him to talk to Ryan.  _

_ “Hey, Jon…” _

** _“Ryan.”_ **

_ “Yeah…” _

** _“Spencer mentioned Panic. Are… you seriously remember?”_ **

_ “Oh, thank fuck.” Ryan breathes out. “Do you have any idea what is going on?”  _

** _“Uh… somewhat… Are you feeling better?”_ **

_ “I think so…” Ryan checks himself, searching for any lingering sickness. He doesn’t find any. “Not one hundred per cent, but I don’t feel like I’m gonna be sick again.” _

** _“That’s good. I take it you don’t remember anything about your current life.” _ **

_ “In all honesty, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” Ryan says, running a hand through his hair. “I woke up in a strange room with Brendon fuckin’ Urie worrying himself to death over me like it was the old days. He said his mom was coming, too. I don’t know if she’s already been or she’s still on her way. I don’t know what time it is, where I am, what the fuck has happened…” _ __   
  


** _“Shit… at least I remember this life. I’ll… I’ll try to help you through it. I’ll also try and convince Spencer to go see you.”_ **

_ “I’m not in Vegas. So… where?” _

** _“Jersey, sorry.”_ **

_ Ryan pauses. “Excuse me?” _ __   
  


_ Brendon taps on the door.  _

** _“Yeah, I’ll try to get to you as soon as I can. It’ll be easier that way.” _ **

_ Ryan murmurs something resembling ‘okay’ and then ‘bye’ and then he hangs up.  _

_ Brendon ducks his head in the room. “Mom’s here. She wants to see you.” Ryan nods and follows Brendon out of the room, sticking close as he walks. The woman standing there is blonde with bright eyes and a soft smile. She takes in his state, which is less stumbling and more standing up straight, and her smile grows wider.  _

_ “Oh, thank god you’re okay. Brendon was so distressed over the phone.” She wraps him in her arms gently and it feels like something familiar somehow.  _

_ He finds out her name is Nicole, and she pats him on the head as she leaves, telling him to rest and get better.  _

_ He scoffs but smiles.  _

* * *

_ _

_ Nicole doesn’t say much about where she’s living, but Brendon sure seems curious. On their way to have lunch with her, Ryan picks Brendon’s brain about who exactly Nicole is because he doesn’t remember Nicole in his other life.  _

_ Brendon laughs and ‘reminds’ him that she adopted him when he was really young, and that she’s all he’s ever known. He quips back that ‘of course he knows that’ when really the new information is good to have. Brendon then continues to go on about how much his mom loves kids and how great of a mother she is. Ryan nods along because even as brief of a meeting he’s shared with her, he knows that she’s a great mother.  _

_ They arrive at an apartment building and then ascend one set of stairs, ringing the doorbell. Nicole answers, and standing beside her is someone he hadn’t expected to see again in this world at least.  _

_ Frank Iero is young. Really young. A teenage boy with almost shoulder-length hair and a frowning face, still short in this life as well. He wonders how Nicole knows him. Ryan only looks at him out of the corner of his eye before watching as Nicole throws her arms first around Brendon and then around him and he feels brighter simply standing in her presence.  _

_ Brendon’s eyes flicker over to Frank and Nicole quickly introduces him.  _

_ “Oh, Brendon, darling, this is Frank!” _

_ Brendon introduces himself to Frank with a handshake and Frank introduces himself as well with, “Frank, obviously.” Because even Brendon isn’t stupid enough not to know that. Brendon quickly introduces Ryan and Ryan shakes Frank’s hand as well, sending him a smile.  _

_ Nicole ushers them inside and to the table, where Brendon begins to shoot question after question at his mother. _

_ “Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you, Mom, but where exactly are we? And who’s he? Are you living here?”  _

_ She replies just as fast, “I do live here, don’t I Frank?” _

_ Frank nods. “Yeah. She moved in ‘cause she was dating my dad.”  _

_ Wait… “Was?” Ryan speaks up.  _

_ Then, as Nicole tells the tale of how Frank’s father ran off and now she’s caring for Frank until either Frank’s father returns or she is forced to wait another week. Then she’ll “go through the proper channels and everything.”  _

_ Ryan knows what that means almost immediately. And so does Brendon.  _

_ “You gonna do it, Mom?” _

_ Both him and Brendon know that Frank’s father is unlikely to return. So Ryan chuckles.  _

_ “She will, Brendon, there’s no doubt about it. Welcome to the family, Frank.” _

* * *

_ He meets Gerard a day before Jon and Spencer are due to arrive in New Jersey. They’re back at Frank’s apartment to have dinner with Nicole when Frank comes home and Ryan hears Brendon yell. “Frank’s got a boyfriend?!” _

_ That grabs Ryan’s attention and he looks to see Gerard fuckin’ Way standing awkwardly beside Frank. He’s ready to write it off as simply a coincidence, of course, if Brendon and he are together in this universe, so are Frank and Gerard. And then he sees the glint of recognition in Gerard’s eyes, and he knows. He knows that Gerard is the same as him. Or, at least the same as maybe Jon.  _

_ Before Frank can lead Gerard away to his room, Ryan catches Gerard and pretends to whisper something lewd in his ear, when all he’s asking is for them to meet after dinner to speak about MCR. Gerard freezes when he hears the three letters and then forces on a blush, going off with Frank.  _

_ After dinner, they find each other in the kitchen and Ryan finds out that Gerard does remember both lives, like Jon. He tells him what he had found out when he last talked to Spencer, that he knows things, but not everything.  _

_ He finds that Gerard is in no way doing this alone, that he’s got his girls and his brother and his friend but not yet Frank. He also explains that he believes there is something important they have to accomplish. He’s not sure what it is, but he explains that Lindsey has some ideas. They exchange numbers and Ryan feels more confident in his own body than he has in a while.  _

* * *

_ _

_ Spencer and Jon arrive in New Jersey and stay in a hotel. Brendon has work, though Ryan is still in the dark as to what exactly that is, so Ryan goes to see his former best friend and his current friend by himself.  _

_ Both Spencer and Jon look younger than last time, though they are both sporting those good ol’ beards that they’d grown during the Pretty Odd days, which feel lifetimes ago if he’s being honest. Jon hugs him tightly and once he pulls back, Spencer instantly takes his place. Ryan relaxes into his arms a little.  _

_ “You don’t remember…” _ __   
  


_ “Not everything.” _

_ “He doesn’t remember that, no…” Jon whispers from beside him. “But… I told him. He seemed to handle it better than he did last time.”  _

_ “What are we going to do?” Ryan sighs. “We need everyone to remember. Spencer’s got gaps in his memory, Brendon is completely in the fucking dark. I know nothing about the person I am here. You’re the only one of us four with all the knowledge.” _

_ “Yet none of the answers…” Jon settles on the perfectly made bed, spreading out and rumpling the sheets.  _

_ “I saw Gerard yesterday. You know, from My Chem.” _

_ Jon makes a noise of recognition and Spencer furrow his eyebrows as he struggles to remember.  _

_ “He’s boyfriends with Frank in this life, you know. It’s something that’s happened recently, but they’re so perfect together, it’s like me and Brendon…” Ryan trails off. “Fuck…” He flops down next to Jon. “If he remembers he’s going to hate me!” _

_ “He won’t…” Spencer speaks up. “I have the feeling he still loves you, even after this split you tell me happened. I still don’t believe it really happened.” _

_ “It did,” Jon reiterates. “Unfortunately.” _

_ “Gerard remembers…” Ryan says in a quiet voice. Jon grasps Ryan’s wrist in shock.  _

_ “Wait, really?!” He asks, excitement seeming to bubble to the surface. “He remembers?” _

_ “So does Mikey, and Ray, and his wife, and Frank’s wife… but not Frank.” _

_ Jon frowns. “How did you even meet up with him?” _

_ “You know Nicole…” Ryan begins. Both Jon and Spencer nod and so Ryan continues. “She was dating Frank’s dad. Both Gerard and Frank are teenagers, by the way. Frank’s dad has run off, so Nicole is now looking after Frank. It’s sweet, I guess. But… Gerard said they might have theories on how to get back…” _

_ “Seriously?” _

_ “Yeah. I’ve got his number, so I’ll try and meet up with him soon.”  _

_ Jon sighs in relief. “Maybe we’ll get home after all.” _

_ Ryan nods. “I just hope Brendon doesn’t hate me.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Living with him for these past few weeks has just been so… amazing.” _

_ “It’s the same for me, but also different. You don’t remember your relationship here. I do. And Spencer remembers bits and pieces, so it’s not like Brendon either. It’s… different.” Jon hums.  _

_ “Yeah…” _

* * *

_ _

_ Lindsey finds out that both her and Jamia are in the middle of moving schools together. And that she and Jamia are girlfriends! _

_ And, okay, it’s not like she hadn’t looked at Jamia like that before. It’s not like she hadn’t had those thoughts about her as she slept beside Gerard, imagining the girl instead of her husband. It’s not like Gerard doesn’t do the same thing. She knows he thinks of Frank more than he thinks of her.  _

_ She finds herself not really minding.  _

_ But she finds it amazing that she and Jamia are together in this life. She loves it so much. She’s only been there for a few days and Jamia has visited every single day, asking softly if she can kiss her, hug her, hold her. Lindsey is eager every time and Jamia lets her slump into her arms when Lindsey gets so exhausted that she can’t stand upright.  _

_ She’s starting to feel better now, yet she still is in the dark about why exactly she feels so ill, or why the woman seems so used to this illness Lindsey is experiencing. She questions Jamia about it on their fourth day.  _

_ “Why am I sick?” She says straight up.  _

_ “Huh?” Jamia hums from her spot on the floor.  _

_ “Why am I sick?” Lindsey repeats.  _

_ “Oh, uh… you… the other you, has this sickness where you become paralysed really easy. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it’s not good. But you’re feeling better now, right?” _

_ “Mostly.” _

_ “That’s good.” Jamia reaches over and interlocks her hand in Lindsey’s, who’s lying on the bed with her legs hanging off and her hair splayed across the sheets.  _

_ “Hey… do you think we’re gonna be able to go home?” _

_ Jamia seems to think for a minute. “I hope so.” _

* * *

_ _

_ The new school is dull, Lindsey thinks. She’s feeling much better by the time she steps through the doors alongside Jamia. They don’t share every class, but they share enough that they get to spend a lot of time together. It’s only during the break between classes that things really get interesting.  _

_ Across the hall from where Jamia and her are standing, two boys are hanging by a locker. A short boy and a boy with long, dark hair who keeps staring at the floor. She searches his face, finding it familiar until it hits her.  _

_ It’s Gerard. A young Gerard beside a young Frank. She nudges Jamia gently, and the shorter girl looks up in surprise, before smiling.  _

_ Frank seems to nudge Gerard and they exchange a few words before he smiles at her. He looks down, Frank says something else to him, and then Gerard is shoved in the girl’s direction. Something clicks in her mind and she grabs him, kisses him on the cheek, lets Jamia do the same, and then introduces herself.  _

_ Bright red in the face, he runs off, followed closely by Frank. She giggles a little and Jamia joins her, smiling.  _

* * *

_ _

_ Gerard takes a few days off school and then he returns with a newly found confidence and bright red hair. And she loves it. Slowly, their group forms.  _

_ One of the days Gerard is away, the girls meet up with Ray, who remembers everything. Then there’s Gerard, who they hope remembers. And then Mikey arrives the next week, the same as ever.  _

_ Hope begins to blossom in Lindsey’s heart as she thinks of going home to her daughter. She thinks of being with Jamia, of her friendship with Gerard, of his love for Frank. She thinks of how this whole thing has fixed the dilemma. They married the wrong people, they know that, and finally, they’ve realised it.  _

_ Maybe that’s why they’re here? They’re learning something, and maybe they’re going to leave something behind too. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't be bothered writing much of an author's note right now, so just know that there'll be a chapter out tomorrow but I don't know about after that


	12. We Got The Bomb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter today
> 
> almost 1500 words
> 
> we're finished with the flashbacks, except for a tiny one in this chapter

“Ryan remembers.” Is the first thing Gerard says to Mikey when he gets home. 

“What?”

“Ryan fucking Ross remembers.”

“Oh…” Mikey raises his eyebrows. “How do you know?”

“He just told me." 

“What, like, just then?” Mikey settles further into the couch. “How did you even meet up with him.”

“Frank’s stepmom or something is Brendon’s mom. Brendon and Ryan are dating.” Gerard flops down next to him. “We exchanged numbers, told him we’d talk, see what we can do to get home.”

“I think music is still our best bet.” Mikey sighs. “Nothing else seems to fit.”

“Yeah. It’s like Lindsey said, we’re here for a reason, and I think we’ve almost sorta learnt our lesson in a way.” Gerard props his head up with his hands, elbows resting on his knees. “We just need Frank to remember.”

“Keep singing to him, I guess. He likes it, doesn’t he?” Mikey winks and Gerard scowls at him, blushing a little. 

“Seems to.”

“Keep singing then. As I said before,  _ music is our best bet _ .” Mikey reminds him and Gerard huffs softly, relaxing back and pressing the back of his head into the couch cushions. 

* * *

“Sing again!” Frank whines from his spot on the bed. Gerard rolls his eyes, sitting down, wrapping his arms around the small guy, and pulling him on top of his chest. Frank laughs as he does so. 

“I was just about to ask if you wanted me to.”

“Well, I do! So go!” 

Gerard frowns. “Now that you’ve asked me to…" 

“Go!”

“Fine. Just… let me get something in my head first…” Gerard pet Frank’s hair as he thought. Something… new maybe? Something unreleased? Yes. Okay. He’s got it. 

“Got it?” Frank asks when he notices Gerard nodding to himself. 

“Yeah.”

“What are you waiting for?”

Gerard rolls his eyes again before starting.

_ “So long to all my friends.”  _

Frank begins to hum a tune that, for some reason, fits perfectly with Gerard’s voice. 

_ “Every one of them met tragic ends.” _

Frank curls into Gerard, moving upwards to rest his head on Gerard’s shoulder. 

_ “With every passing day, I'd be lying if I didn't say.” _

Frank reaches up and tangles his fingers in Gerard’s hair. 

_ “That I miss them all tonight.” _

Gerard closes his eyes as Frank hums into his ear. 

_ “And if they only knew what I would say.” _

Gerard curls his arms tighter around Frank. His cheeks feel wet, and he hadn’t even noticed when he’d started crying, but he knows now that he can’t stop. 

_ “If I could be with you tonight. I would sing you to sleep. Never let them take the light behind your eyes.” _

Gerard blinks his eyes open to see Frank staring up at him with worry. He sort of wants to stop, because it’s getting kind of hard to see Frank’s beautiful face with his eyes full of tears. He doesn't though, finishing off the chorus. 

_ “One day, I'll lose this fight. As we fade in the dark. Just remember you will always burn as bright.”  _

He can’t keep going, choking on the sobs that struggle to make it out of his mouth. Frank goes to question him, but he decides not to, simply clutching Gerard tighter as he cries. 

* * *

Frank leaves Gerard sleeping in his room, quietly taking the stairs down to the front door. 

“What the fuck happened up there?” Mikey meets him in the hall, eyebrows raised as he takes in Frank’s tear-stained shirt. 

“I just asked him to sing for me and he started crying.”

“After singing or before.”

“After.”

“What did he sing?” Mikey asks, heading towards the stairs himself. 

“I don’t know what it was called…” Frank mumbles, cursing himself for asking Gerard to sing in the first place. “I’m sorry.”

  
“You don’t need to apologise, Frank. I knew this would happen eventually.” Mikey runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll talk to him, you can wait down here if you want.”

“He’s asleep.” Mikey makes a little ‘ah’ sound and nods. “I’m just gonna go home…” Frank sighs, walking to the door.

“You don’t have to,” Mikey tells him, gesturing the other way, towards the living room. Frank shakes his head. 

“I’ll be back tomorrow, obviously.”

Mikey cracks a smile. “I’ll talk to him, I promise.”

“Thank you.” Frank opens the door and shuts it carefully. 

* * *

_ Gerard runs a hand through his newly dyed red hair, walking down the hall. He’s been called to the office for some reason, and he’s a little unsure. It’s probably about his hair, he thinks, the outlandish colour probably not fitting with their dumb school regulations. _

_ He remembers why he hated high school so much now.  _

_ In the office, he sees two people who immediately stand when he enters. One is his father, and the other is Mikey. Except Mikey is in tears and Gerard immediately wraps his arms around his brother, careful not to scare his brother. He shoots his father a confused look and sits Mikey down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs.  _

_ “Mikey?” _

_ He gets no reply, just shudders and sobs. He runs his hands through his brother’s hair and hums a tune to calm him down. It takes some time but soon enough, Mikey is half-asleep in his arms and he looks up at his father again.  _

_ “What happened?” _

_   
_ _ “He just started crying and screaming for you. I don’t know why. Everything was going fine until then.” _

_ Gerard frowns.  _

_ “Okay… I think you should take him home and let him rest, I guess. Did the doctor say that this type of thing would happen?” _

_ “Maybe… no one really knew what was going on with him. They still don’t…” _

_ Gerard sighs, helping his brother out of the seat, who seems dead to the world. He’s limp in Gerard’s arms, and, while he’s skinnier than most, he’s still a tall teenage boy, so he’s heavy. His father takes Mikey’s other arm and they carry him out to the car with his feet dragging against the ground.  _

_ Once Mikey’s strapped in the front seat, Gerard grimaces, looking at his father.  _

_ “I’d go home but I think I’ve missed enough school already…” _

_ He really didn’t want to stay, but he had a feeling Frank would throw a fit if he went home. _

* * *

_ _

“Sorry about yesterday…” Gerard bites his lip. Frank shrugs it off. 

  
“Don’t be, it was my fault.”

“No.”

“I made you sing,” Frank shoots back.

“I chose to sing… that… also, it was going to happen eventually,” Gerard sighs, leaning up against the locker. 

“What?”

“Listen, I’ll sing for you again today, to make up for yesterday.” Gerard puts his hand on Frank’s shoulder, smiling as he leans in. “Yeah?” He breathes the word into Frank’s shoulder. Frank feels his face going red. 

“Yeah…”

And sing does he do. Frank prepares himself for a soft, slow song. Instead, Gerard pulls him up off the bed and dances him around the room as he sings loudly and quickly.

_ “If all my enemies threw a party. Would you light the candles? Would you drink the wine, while watching television?” _

Frank just feels giddy as Gerard moves him about, spinning him about and Frank even hums as he doesn’t know the lyrics. By the time Gerard reaches the second pre-chorus, Frank is tripping over the words he had heard previously. 

_ “I'm not laughing, you're not joking. I'm not dead, I only dress that…” _

He then moves smoothly into the chorus and Frank finds himself singing the words just as loudly. He’s not sure why he knows these ones so well. 

_ “Way out nowhere, take me out there far away, and save me from my self-destruction, hopeless for you. Sing a song for California.” _

They jump up and down in unison, bouncing about with giant grins on their faces. He can hear music in his ears but he has no idea where it’s coming from. 

_ “'Cause we got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go!” _

As soon as Gerard finishes, Frank tackles him onto the bed, kissing him ferociously. Gerard suddenly gets the upper hand flipping them over so he was on top. Gerard has a hand up Frank’s shirt and his lips against Frank’s collar bone when he hears Mikey call from downstairs. He lets out a groan of annoyance and lifts his head, shouting for Mikey to ‘fuck off’. Frank seizes the opportunity and flips them over again. Gerard responds by giggling and going back to kissing. 

* * *

“Is there a name for the song you sang me?”

“Oh, yeah, Boy Division.” 

“Huh. Okay then.”

Frank writes down the music and as much of the lyrics as he can remember in his notebook during class the next day. Once at home, he locks his bedroom door and begins to practice the music he’s written. He even tries singing the lyrics, but it’s not the same as when Gerard was singing them. 

Something about them feels familiar, though. He’s not sure why. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs are The Light Behind Your Eyes and Boy Division


	13. Kiss The Ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter before the finale
> 
> almost 1900 words
> 
> nice little bit of rikey in this chapter for you lot :) alongside the frerard and ryden and some way brotherly love there too

“I wrote some music to go with those lyrics you sang me,” Frank tells him. Gerard’s eyebrows rise high into his red hair. They’re walking down the hall to Frank’s apartment, which he’s soon moving out of. Frank fishes his key out of his pocket and shoves it roughly into the door.    


“You’re gonna break the lock if you keep doing that.” 

“So? Won’t be my place for too much longer anyway.” Frank shrugs, opening the door to his apartment. Gerard bites his lip, taking in the somewhat vacant apartment. 

“What’s happening with that, by the way…” Gerard asks, following Frank to his room. 

“Dad came back, he and Nicole had another fight, and it’s all ended up as a clusterfuck of me soon enough being her ‘son’.”

“Son? Why do you say that so reluctantly?” Frank shuts his bedroom door and flops onto his bed. 

“Dunno. Doesn’t feel real, does it? I mean, I’m not gonna just start calling her ‘mom’ or something. That’s something for Brendon to do.”

“Technically, you’ll be his brother.” Frank makes a face. 

“Yikes.”

Gerard laughs and tackles Frank on the bed, peppering kisses across his jaw. “You want me to sing again?”

“Yeah…” Frank breathes out shakily. “Yeah, that’d be nice. Just… just let me write down the lyrics afterwards.”

“I could write them down for you,” Gerard whispers in his ear, caressing his face. Frank shivers. 

“No, no, I’m good, I’ll write them.”

“Slow song or fast?”

“Slow.” 

“Slow slow?”

“Nah. Normal slow.”

Gerard giggles before he starts.

_ “Where, where will you stand. When all the lights go out, across these city streets?” _

Frank hums in time and finds himself knowing the lyrics. They get to the chorus and Gerard is grinning wide as Frank keeps singing with him.

_ “If there's a place that I could be. Then I'd be another memory. Can I be the only hope for you? Because you're the only hope for me.” _

Frank smiles back at him and as soon as Gerard stops, Frank leans up and kisses him softly. Gerard pulls back after a minute. 

“How did you know?"

“I dunno. I’ve never heard that song before.”

Gerard bites his lip again before smiling at him. 

“Sounded beautiful, you know?” 

“Your voice did, yeah,” Frank agrees and Gerard gently hits him over the head. “Hey!”

“You sounded beautiful.”

Frank just laughs. 

* * *

Frank writes down the lyrics, finding himself remembering all of them this time. He’s not sure why, they’re original, he’s sure, but he remembers them well, and he knew them at the time too. He’s never heard them before though. 

Or, maybe he has, somewhere deep inside of him tells him that he has before. But his logical mind just hits him in the head and tells him to stop listening. 

He still finds himself humming the lyrics again, though. 

* * *

“He’s remembering!” Gerard springs on Mikey and Mikey raises one of his eyebrows in confusion and curiosity. 

“Who? What?”   


“Frank!”   


“Wait… seriously?” Mikey asks and Gerard jumps up and down, nodding furiously. 

“What do you mean? Like, slowly?” 

“Yeah, he’s like… he knows the words to the songs, the tune too. He sings them really well,” Gerard says, thinking back to how beautiful Frank’s voice was. Mikey wacks him on the arm. 

“Keep going…”

“Okay, well, I think if I keep at this, he might remember. Maybe all of us going at it might bring back his memories  _ and _ send us home.” 

Mikey hums, thinking. “I know we definitely want to go back but… what’s going to actually change?” He runs his hands through his hair, resting back into the pillow under his head. “How much is this going to affect our lives from here on out?”

“Well… me and Frank, Lindsey and Jamia. We love each other, I think we all deserve to be happy.”

“ _ Our _ Frank hasn’t even turned up here yet. We have no idea what he will think..” 

Gerard pouts. 

Mikey frowns up at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like it. We all know he loves you, that much is obvious, but we have no idea how weird this change is going to be on him. Just imagine we don’t get him to remember before we get back, then this is going to be the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to him.”

Gerard giggles as he thinks of Frank’s slack jaw as Gerard gets down on one knee in front of him. 

“But, I guess we just have to see what happens,” Mikey finishes. He yawns and closes his eyes. “Now get out, I wanna take a nap.”

Instead of leaving, Gerard flops down next to him. “Nah, annoying you sounds like much more fun.”

Mikey uncoordinatedly moves to wack Gerard on the shoulder, managing to instead hit his head gently, getting a soft ‘ow’ in return. He counts it as a win. Gerard curses him out, but Mikey shrugs, rolls over, and yawns again before settling into the mattress. The weight on the other side of the bed shifts a little, but he gives up on telling Gerard to go away. 

* * *

“Are we overthinking this whole music thing?” Gerard asks Lindsey as they walk side-by-side with their hands brushing against each other. “Like, does it really have to be that big?”

“Do you know something I don’t?” She frowns as he sidesteps someone else. Another guy grabs his shoulder and slams him into a locker, but he doesn’t react, just keeps looking at Lindsey. 

“Hey, punk!” The guy shouts in his face but Gerard doesn’t pay him any attention, instead, continuing his conversation with Lindsey. 

“Maybe?”

“Gerard…” She sighs as Gerard avoids the guy’s punch. And then the guy’s down and Frank is pummeling his head into the ground. Gerard reaches down and tugs Frank away before he does any serious damage. 

“I don’t know much else, ‘cept music is good.”

Frank grins at that. “Music is good, especially the music you make with your motherfucking angel voice.”

Gerard gives him a smile. As they walk away, Lindsey on one side of him and Frank on the other, Gerard takes Frank’s hand, their fingers interlacing and both of their grips tight. He swings it back and forth, a blissful smile spread across his face. They’re going to get back, he knows it. 

* * *

“Do you want to still be together when we’re back?” Mikey asks as he lies in the grass. Ray frowns at his question. What exactly does he mean? 

“Of course.” Ray leans over and brushes Mikey’s hair out of his face. “Why would you think I wouldn’t?”

“This world and that one are different, aren’t they. And… and here, we’re like… everyone knows, right? It’s not some hidden, secret thing we’re keeping from everyone.” Mikey lets out a deep breath. “What I’m saying is, will it go back to how it was before? With us. All the private rooms and quick kisses backstage and sitting away from each other? All, secret.”

Ray drags his curly hair back and then runs his hands over his face. “I don’t know, Mikey. It’s all up to you. I… I didn’t know you in this life, remember, but not everything I’ve done has been me. You don’t remember this life, but I do. I know what he thought, what he lived through. He’s given me his memories and it’s… it’s changed me... if only a little.”

Mikey reaches over and hooks his hand over Ray’s shoulder, dragging him closer. “I barely noticed. You’re the same person at heart, that much I know. But… has  _ he _ given you the resolve, I wonder.”

“Resolve?”

“To really ask me out? Huh?” Mikey gripes and then chuckles. Ray laughs too. 

“Maybe he has,” Ray says and rolls over, Mikey doing the same. He then presses his forehead against Mikey’s, looking him right in the eye. “Michael James Way, will you…” He pauses, thinking of how much this will change everything. This is where the old Ray might’ve backed out, chickened out, laughed or played it off as a joke. But no. He won’t. Not this time. He starts again. 

“Michael James Way, will you marry me?”

Mikey’s lips split into a blinding smile. His eyes are bright and glistening with unshed tears of happiness. 

“Raymond Manuel Toro-Ortiz, yes. Yes, I will marry you.”

* * *

“Nine in the afternoon,” Ryan repeats. “ _ Because it’s nine in the afternoon.” _

_ “And your eyes are the size of the moon! _ ” Brendon suddenly says, looking pleased with himself. Ryan cracks a smile. 

“You got it.”

“I got it!” Brendon cries out, grinning broadly. His eyes shine and he’s shaking with excitement. “Wow, I had no idea I could sing like that!”

“I always knew you were hiding some talent in there somewhere.” Ryan chuckles, echoing something he had said all those years ago when Brendon had filled in for him at a practice session. To take his mind off reminiscing, he moves on to the next page, asking Brendon to continue. 

“ _ You could… you could, ‘cause you can _ ?” Brendon mumbles the lyrics aloud and Ryan laughs. 

“Sing it with me, if it’s easier?”   


“Okay. One, two, three…”

_ “You could, ‘cause you can, so you do. We're feeling so good. Just the way that we do. When it's nine in the afternoon.”  _

They finish off the chorus swiftly, Brendon and Ryan sharing matching grins. Brendon then frowns, like he’s thinking. Ryan raises his eyebrows. 

“Brendon?”

“Ry… Ryan… wait…”

Ryan sits upright from where he was leaning back with his hands stretched out behind him. “Brendon… everything okay?”

Brendon starts to breathe heavily and Ryan springs forward, taking Brendon in his arms. Something inside him curses him for taking advantage of a Brendon that doesn’t remember him but he pushes the sudden guilt away, focusing on the Brendon right in front of him. 

“Ryan…” Brendon looks up at him with soft eyes. “I… I’m sorry…”

Ryan’s brow creases in confusion. He holds Brendon tighter. 

“Brendon…?”   


“Oh my god… I’m so, so, so sorry, Ry. I fucked everything up… I…” Brendon’s sobbing at this point, crying into his arms. “I should’ve talked to you properly, we should’ve worked it out. I’m so fucking stupid.”   


“Stupid?”

“I’m so fucking stupid and I’m never getting this life back, am I? This is… this is all a fucking dream…”

Ryan’s eyes widen, he pulls back only a slight back, shaking Brendon’s shoulders a little. 

“Brendon? You… you remember?” He struggles with a bawling Brendon in his grip, to take a hold of his phone. He quickly calls Spencer, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear as it rings so he can go back to holding Brendon. 

**“Hello?”**

“Brendon remembers!”

**“What! Ryan-”**

He can’t hear the rest of it because he suddenly feels really dizzy and he leans back with Brendon so they’re both lying on the floor, shutting his eyes. 

He wakes up in a familiar apartment, but the world outside is nothing but white, and the apartment is empty like it was when he first bought it. Empty aside from a figure sitting on the ground, propped up against the wall near the large window in the living room. 

Ryan walks over quietly, feeling compelled to kneel down in front of the person. They look up and their eyes lock. And then widen. 

“You…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> Songs  
The Only Hope For Me Is You - My Chemical Romance  
Nine In The Afternoon - Panic! At The Disco


	14. Basement Sunsets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I'm so sorry for taking so long. This is a really hard chapter to write  
2\. I said that this was going to be the last chapter, but that's not the case. It was getting too long, so I'm splitting it up. It's also nice to give you guys some more content. 
> 
> Over 3400 words. 
> 
> Next chapter will be the last one, promise.

Frank runs a hand through his hair, gritting his teeth. He’s waiting for something, anything to come to him. It’d be so much easier with Gerard here, he knows that much. His other hand rests far down on the neck of his guitar and he scowls at it like it’s betraying him. He can’t seem to get the right finger work or chords, and it sounds like a garbled mess. 

He huffs and resigns himself to one more attempt before he goes to get something to eat. He lets out a breath, and then starts up again, biting his lip as he struggles for a moment. He then begins to play something he’s sure he’s never heard before, but he knows it as if he’s played it a hundred times. 

His fingers move fast over the strings and his eyebrows furrow because he doesn’t know why he’s playing this song. 

He also doesn’t know why his cheeks are getting wet and it’s becoming increasingly harder to see. He stops and the whole room falls silent as he wipes his eyes on the sleeve of his hoodie, running his hand across his face to scrub away all the tears. He digs his phone out of his pocket with one hand, and his other hand grips tightly to the neck of his guitar still. 

He calls Gerard and sets the phone between his ear and his shoulder, listening as it rings. His hand finds its way back to the strings, but he uses all his willpower not to continue playing. He’s not sure why. 

**“Frankie? What’s up?”**

Frank wants to cry. Gerard just sounds so  _ happy _ . A few tears escape his eyes. He tries to speak and it comes out as a choked sob, despite the fact that he’s not  _ upset _ . He’s not  _ sad _ , or at least he doesn’t think he is. 

**“Frankie?” ** Gerard’s tone changes to one of concern. Frank covers his mouth so no more sobs can escape his lips as tears roll faster down his face.  **“Frank, is there something wrong?”**

“G-Gerard…” He’s crying and he can’t stop it, even though he’s still not sure why. 

**“Frank! Are you okay? You want me to come over?”**

Frank sobs out a ‘yes’ and wipes his eyes on his sleeve again. It doesn’t make much difference. The call disconnects and the guitar drops out of his hands at the same time. He curls up into a ball, his tears soaking the knees of his jeans. He feels sick to his stomach and his head is pounding. 

He doesn’t hear the knock on the door, but he does hear the shouting. Gerard’s shouting through the door to let him in. Frank stumbles out of his room and to the front door, quickly sliding the lock open with a trembling hand and turning the handle. 

Gerard is standing there with panic in his eyes. He pushes his way into the apartment and shuts the door behind him, before throwing his arms around Frank’s shoulders and guiding the both of them to the ground, letting the shorter boy cry into his shirt. 

“Hey… Frankie… look at me…” Gerard took Frank’s jaw in his hand and tilted his head to face him. “What’s wrong? I… Please tell me…”

Frank just shakes his head. 

“Frank…”

“I don’t know…” Frank bites his lip, more tears falling out of his eyes. “I have no fucking clue.” He chokes on the last word. 

“Oh… Frankie.” Gerard runs a hand through Frank’s hair, pressing his lips to his crown. “What happened?”

“I was… I was just playing guitar and then I just started crying for no fucking reason…” Frank whimpers. Gerard pulls him close again. 

“Want me to sing something for you?” Gerard asks in a soft voice, speaking directly into Frank’s ear. He receives a little nod in return. 

Gerard breathes out slowly before he starts. 

_ “When I was… a young boy… my father... took me into the city... to see a marching band.” _

He combs one hand through Frank’s hair as he sings, the other hand wrapped around Frank’s back, supporting him. 

  
_ “He said, son when... you grow up... will you be... the saviour of the broken... the beaten... and the damned.” _

Frank fell limp in his arms and Gerard swayed them back and forth gently. 

_ “He said… will you?... defeat them… your demons… and all the non-believers… the plans that they have made. Because… one day… I’ll leave you… a phantom… to lead you in the summer… to join the black parade…” _

He begins to hum a melody, one Frank’s sure he’s heard before. As Gerard hums, Frank thinks. 

“Welcome to the black parade…”

Gerard pauses. 

“What?”

“Welcome to the black parade,” Frank repeats. “That’s what it’s called.”

Gerard runs a hand through Frank’s hair to cup his cheek. “How did you know that?”

“I… I’ve heard this one before. But… I’ve only ever heard you sing it. But you’ve never sung it before…”

“I have, Frankie.”

Frank frowns in confusion. “No… you… haven’t?” He squints. “I… I don’t remember…”

“You do, Frankie… you do, I promise… C’mon, sing it with me. You know it…”

_ “Sometimes I get the feeling.” _

_ “She’s watching over me.” _ Gerard continues for him, encouraging him further. 

_ “And other times I feel like I should go.” _

Gerard smiles at him and Frank smiles back through the tears. 

_ “And through it all, the rise and fall. The bodies in the streets. And when you're gone, we want you all to know…” _

Frank intakes a breath sharply, eyes widening. 

_ “We’ll carry on-” _

Frank falls back into Gerard, unconscious, and Gerard goes under almost as quickly. 

* * *

Ryan shuffles away from the figure, looking down at himself instead. His hair is longer and he’s wearing a plain brown jacket and white shirt. The figure curled up on themselves has shorter hair and wears a patterned shirt and vest. 

Him. Or at least, that world’s version of him. The one he’s been inhabiting for weeks now. 

He stands up and begins pacing. After a few minutes of this, Other Ryan peeks his head up, speaking softly. 

“Can you stop, I don’t know why I’m here but your pacing is stressing me out even more. Are you trapped here with me?”   
  


He sounds calm, or as calm as he can with being trapped with a total stranger. That means they’re ignoring Ryan’s face and eyes and the reality of the situation. He would be too if he hadn’t lived through the experience he’d been living for the last little while. 

“Seems like it…” Ryan peers out the window as he hears Other Ryan yelp at his voice. 

“Who are you?” He whispers. Ryan turns back around and kneels down in front of Other Ryan. 

“I’m you, or another version of you. I’ve been inhabiting your body for the last few weeks. Sorry about that.”

“Did you do it on purpose.” Other Ryan props his hands on his knees and his chin on top of that. 

“No.”

“Then it’s not your fault.” 

Ryan smiles softly. “I think I was sent here to learn a lesson, Ryan. A lesson that you already knew.”

“Lesson?”

“You love your Brendon, right? And he loves you back?”

“Yeah?”

“Well…” Ryan trails off, playing with his hair a little. “I love my Brendon, and I think he still loves me, but we fucked it up and now we’re so far apart. I think this was to make us realise that.” Ryan then takes his counterpart’s hands. “And I thank you for that.”

Other Ryan smiles at him. “I didn’t really do anything, but I’m happy I could help. I couldn’t bear to think of a universe where I’m apart from Brendon.” 

The front door clicks open, the whiteness from outside leaking inwards. They both glance upwards. A figure stands there, smiling at them. 

* * *

Gerard wakes up scared. He’s in what he assumes is a basement, but he’s never been here before. It’s pretty bare, but the ground has marks where the furniture must’ve sat, the windows dark. He’s not tied up or anything, so he stands on shaky legs and tries the closest of the two doors, ascending the staircase. It’s locked. He stumbles back down the steps and tries the other door, which is also locked. 

How did he get here? The last thing he remembers is his brother spouting some weird shit about them and him getting really freaked out for some reason. 

A low groaning noise makes him freeze. He’s not alone. He turns around, spotting a figure lying on his side with his arms wrapped around his stomach, bright red hair splayed against the wooden floorboards. 

“Hello?” 

The redhead blinks his eyes open and they’re odd. A weird mix of brown and green. He looks older than Gerard, but still rather youthful, with a denim jacket over a plain black shirt and jeans. He rolls over so he’s on his back, staring at the ceiling before he speaks. 

“I’ve been here before…”

Gerard’s heart stops. Because that’s impossible. 

That’s his voice. Except it sounds garbled and weird, the same as when you hear your voice recorded. It’s familiar but different. 

It’s his though. There’s no denying that. 

“Hello…” Gerard repeats with a shaky voice. 

The redhead rolls over yet again to face him. There’s a smile playing at his lips as he looks at him. 

“Ah… You’re Gerard Way, yeah? The one who lives with his father and is hopelessly in love with his best friend and wishes that he could just have that brotherly relationship with dear old Mikey.” The redhead rolls over  _ again _ . Onto his stomach this time, getting his arms caught underneath his body. He then presses both his palms to the ground and pushes himself up off the ground. 

Gerard blushes as the redhead speaks, throwing his arms around his body in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. The redhead simply smiles at him as he gets to his feet. He’s taller than Gerard, but only slightly, and their build is the same, their noses are the same, their whole  _ face _ is the same, only the redhead is older. 

“Who are you?” Gerard whispers as the redhead draws nearer. 

“How can I say this in a way that won’t get you all freaked out…?” The redhead bites his lip and it’s the same. All the little quirks that Gerard does, this guy also does them. The redhead then frowns. “I guess I’ll just say it outright. I’m you.” 

Gerard freezes. 

“What?”

“Well… let me rephrase that…” The redhead seems to think for a minute. “You know how Mikey was going on and on about everything being all wrong, yeah? The thing that happened was that Mikey got thrown into an alternate universe Mikey, your Mikey, on purpose or accidental, we don’t know, but it happened. Same happened to me.”

“You?” Gerard sits down on the steps to the second door he tried. The redhead nods. 

“Last thing that happened was him telling you that, wasn’t it.”

“Yeah…”

“It’s a bit weird, I know, but I woke up as me. But…” He elongated the ‘t’, drawing the word out. “I had  _ your _ memories too. Mikey didn’t. Odd, huh?”

Gerard awkwardly nods, resisting the urge to bite his nails, nerves crawling up his body. 

“So… sorry ‘bout that.” The redhead walks over and sets himself down next to Gerard. Gerard attempts to not let this bother him. Apparently, this guy is him. This guy is  _ Gerard _ and he’s so… confident, charming, calm. They’re both somewhere they’ve never seen, but apparently the guy has been through hell and weirdness galore as of recent, so it makes sense that he’s taking this reasonably well. 

He also has this energy around him. He feels easy to talk to. He’s kind and he puts Gerard at ease. 

“Uh…” Gerard struggles to speak. “So… how long?”

“Few weeks, I think. We were mostly waiting on Frank, in all honesty.” 

“Waiting?” Gerard’s eyebrows crinkle in confusion. He’s not entirely convinced this isn’t a dream, but he thought the same when Mikey inexplicably turned up without any warning and that turned to be real, so anything goes at this point… right?

“Yeah, me, Mikes, Ray, Jamia, Lindsey, we were all waiting for him to hurry up and remember. We were trying to get home. I hope  _ this _ .” He gestures to both of them and then around the room. “Means we’re going home soon.”

They sit there in silence for a bit and Gerard begins to droop as exhaustion wears him out. The redhead shuffles closer and wraps his arm around Gerard and Gerard thankfully rests his head on the redhead’s shoulder. 

“Everything that Mikey said… was that real?”

“Yeah…”

“Do we really become a famous singer in a band?”

“ _ I  _ am. You… you have the choice to do whatever you want. You can choose to follow me, or you can choose your own path. It’s all up to you, you know?”

Gerard frowns, biting his lip. “What else do you have?”

The redhead smiles down at him. “I have a lot, Gerard. I have a wife… who won’t be my wife for very much longer, I’m afraid. She’s found love somewhere else. But so have I. She’s my best friend, though.”

“Not Frank?”

The redhead giggles before his expression turns sombre.

“That’s something I need to thank you for…”

Gerard frowns. “What?”

“I didn’t realise how much I really love him until I came here. Thank you…”

Gerard shifts away uncomfortably, a sad look on his face. “My Frank doesn’t love me…”

The redhead guffaws, grinning at him. “Oh yes, he does. When you get back, you’ll find out all about how much that boy loves you.” The redhead then relaxes back against the stairs, resting his head on a step. “But… I’m not sure what happens now. I assume we just wait…”

Gerard sighs but nods. And then a thought strikes him. 

“You said you’d been here before?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s my old basement that I used to live in.” 

“What?!” 

* * *

“You’re awake.” A voice echoes from beside him. Mikey blinks his eyes open. He fumbles around for his glasses and when they’re handed to him, he takes them eagerly. One of the other boys in the dorm must’ve given them to him, but as he takes in his surroundings, something occurs to him. 

This isn’t his dorm room. Nor is it his room he has back at his mother’s house where he lives when he’s not at school. 

He’s in a reasonably normal bedroom, but aside from the simple bedframe and mattress, the whole thing is bear. The curtains are shut, but orange light is peeking through the cracks of the whole place, the corners of the room, through the curtains, and even through the door. 

The only other thing in the room is another person. It’s a guy with bleached blonde hair, wearing a black t-shirt and hoodie alongside skinny jeans and sneakers. Mikey feels weird being in his uniform in front of the guy in front of him. He looks… cool. 

Mikey could never be that cool. Maybe his older brother is that cool, but he hasn’t seen him in years so he wouldn’t know. God, he wishes he could see his brother again. He’s probably a really fun guy to hang out with. For Mikey, having any close friends would be amazing. All the guys at the school are okay, he guesses, but he just doesn’t fit in with them. 

Back to the matter at hand, the guy who’s currently leaning on one of the four walls of the weird, mostly empty room, is staring at him. 

“Mikey Way, I take it.” The blonde says and Mikey frowns, instantly suspicious. How does this guy know his name? And, who is this guy? And… how did he get here? Where is  _ here _ ?

“Yeah…” Mikey mumbles from his spot on the bed. 

“Well, it’s good to finally meet you, considering I’ve been inhabiting your body for the last few weeks.” The blonde shrugs but Mikey snaps his head towards the blonde. “Oh, I’m Mikey, by the way. Or, you, if that’s how you want to say it.”

Mikey stared at the blonde incredulously. “Excuse me…”

“Look at me, kid.” The blonde walked over to him, kneeling right in front of him. “Look at me and tell me I don’t look like you.”

Mikey’s about to retort that they look  _ nothing _ alike but… they do. The closer Mikey looks, the more he sees. The same eyes, the same nose, the same bone structure. But it’s more than that. They hold each other sorta the same. They  _ sound _ the same, except this guy’s voice is deeper and, while youthful, the hints of age are spread across his face. Plus, this guy doesn’t have glasses. 

“You don’t have glasses.”

The blonde cracks a smile. “Not anymore.” He pats Mikey on the head gently and, oddly enough, he doesn’t feel uncomfortable or awkward around this guy. 

“You’re me…”

“Yep.”

“But… how?”

“Alternate universes, dude.” 

Mikey’s face falls a little. Somewhere deep inside he was secretly hoping this guy was his future self. That he’d become the cool guy that was kneeling down in front of him. 

The blonde quickly snaps him out of his daze. “Hey, it’s not like that. We may have lived very different lives, but you still have the chance to get…  _ here _ .” He gestures to himself. “Or wherever you want to go.” He then shrugs, moving so he’s sitting on the bed. 

“What… what happened? You said you were inhabiting my body… that you’re from an alternate universe. But… what? I’m confused and not quite sure that this is real.”

“It is… but so what if it wasn’t. What would it be?”

“Me going insane,” Mikey says with a deadpan voice. The blonde chuckles. 

“Or… you thinking of what you truly could have, yeah? We came to the consensus that we were sent here to learn a lesson, but I don’t think it was my lesson to learn. I think it was yours.” The blonde relaxes back into the bed. “I didn’t know the person you were before. Some did, some didn’t. But… your thoughts… at least the important ones… they seem to filter through my mind, and so I know how you feel, about Gerard…” Mikey sits up straighter when the blonde mentions his… or maybe  _ their _ … brother. “About mom, school, life in general. You want  _ more _ than this. You want to feel  _ loved _ . You want to be  _ happy.  _ Have  _ friends _ .” 

The blonde sits up and runs his hands through Mikey’s hair like he wishes his mom would. Or, someone would. 

“And… I guess I’ve sorta given you that. The Gerard that you yearn to spend time with, he’s been hoping for that too. Because  _ I _ know Gerard. I know every Gerard.”

“How?” Mikey knows that the other Mikey hasn’t lived the same life as he has, but it hadn’t even crossed his mind that he might’ve had a close relationship with Gerard in another life. But, then again, the blonde looks so much happier than Mikey is. So… maybe that’s why. 

“Me and Gerard, growing up we were inseparable. Even now, we’re the closest we can be as brothers without it getting weird.”

Mikey actually laughs at this and the blonde pats him on the head gently. 

“I know  _ you _ want that. I also know that your Gerard also wants that. And, like I said before, I’ve sort of fixed it for you. I’m not sure if you’re just gonna wake up where I was and have a massive gap in your memory, or if you’re gonna get the memories I lived, but I’ll tell you what happened anyway.”

And, as the blonde begins to explain, Mikey listens. 

“We go home, back to ‘dad’ and Gerard. We live there now. I haven’t seen ‘mom’ since we came home, so I don’t know what happened to her. We’re friends with all of Gerard’s friends, the names of who you’ll either remember or you’ll have to learn all yourself.”

And he keeps going, moving on to telling Mikey about his life in his world. Mikey thinks it sounds amazing. And to think, that’s something he could do. 

It seems to light a fire in him. 

A knock echoes on the door and they both jump. The blonde hops up, gesturing for Mikey to stay where he is. 

The door creaks open and the blonde frowns. A silhouette is outlined in the orange light, and the blonde is practically bathed in it. 

"Oh…" The blonde mutters under his breath. "It's you..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))))))))))))))))))))))))))
> 
> Song - Welcome To The Black Parade


	15. Thank You, My Darling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> over 4200 words... wow...
> 
> not beta read

Frank wakes up without a clue as to where he is. Last he knew, he was in his apartment, sobbing his eyes out in Gerard’s arms. He doesn’t even know why. 

He takes in his surroundings. It looks like a bus but one that’s been absolutely gutted of everything. The only things he sees resembling normality are the curtains that hang slightly in front of the few windows about. The only other notable thing is, there’s another guy lying with his body half propped up by the far wall. Frank shuffles further into his corner. 

How did he get here? He, again, runs over what had happened before he’d gone unconscious. Was he kidnapped? That’s a scary thought, but the only one that makes sense right now. He’s no tied up, which is good. And it looks like neither is the other guy. 

He must’ve been taken alongside Frank. Though, why would someone want to kidnap him? What has he done to give someone the motive? He doesn’t know. 

He’s weirdly taking this well… he notes. But, it occurs to him that it might just be shock. That’s nice. The whole not freaking out thing seems to be really helpful in this situation. He’s in control, he’s reasonable. 

He hopes at least. 

The other guy groans and rubs at his eyes before stretching out. He blinks at their surroundings and then his eyes narrow in on Frank and widen. He clambers back, finding nowhere to go with the wall behind him, and he stumbles to his feet. 

“What the fuck?” The guy hisses. His voice is familiar for some reason. Frank decides not to dwell on it. Instead, he keeps to his own corner and looks for a door, and drifts his eyes over each window to see if any would be large enough to clamber through. Frank’s short, he knows that, and the other guy looks barely an inch taller. He spots a slightly larger window than the rest and he stands up, stepping over to it. 

He can’t really see much outside. It’s really dark, with a little bit of light leaking through from somewhere he can’t tell. He runs his fingers along the edges of the window, but he can’t find anything to open it. He could always try and break it, they have nothing but themselves, but he could try kicking at the glass if needed. 

He takes his hands away from the window and turns back around to meet the gaze of the stranger. He’s running his fingers through his dark hair, obviously trying not to panic. He looks older than Frank. Late 20s or early 30s, Frank is guessing. 

“Hello?” Frank tries and the stranger backs up a little again, staring with a wide-eyed gaze. “I’m Frank.” He says. If they’re both going to be stuck like this for a while, then they might as well introduce themselves to each other. 

The stranger breathes out slowly. “I know,” he lets out. “So am I.”

Well… that’s weird. But, Frank is a rather common name, come to think of it. So, not that weird, he doesn’t think. 

“Your name is Frank?”

“Yeah.” The stranger nods. “My name is Frank Iero.”

Frank frowns. That… that can’t be right. “That’s… that’s  _ my _ name.”

“I figured that.” The stranger slides down the wall and sits, drawing his knees up to rest under his chin. He wraps his arms around his legs and gazes out the window like he can actually see something. 

A taping echoes from another window and Frank jolts out of his stupor, making the quick decision to run towards the window and not away from it. He presses his hands up to the glass and looks out, spotting a familiar face smiling up at him and waving. 

* * *

Nicole pauses when she gets to their front door. It’s unlocked. She tugs gently at the handle, letting it swing open and exposing the scene in front of her. 

Gerard and Frank, lying on the ground in each other’s arms, both as white as sheets and completely and utterly unconscious. 

She shuts the door silently and kneels down in front of them, feeling both of their heads in turn. Icy cold. 

It’s time. 

She smiles softly and tugs Frank out of Gerard’s embrace, which is considerably harder than she thought seeing as Gerard’s grip is still tight despite his state. She then half carries half drags him back to his room, where she lies him down on his bed. She then returns to the living room, carrying Gerard through to lie next to Frank. 

She then sits herself down in the corner of the room, crossing her legs. If they’re like this… than Brendon, Ryan, Spencer, Jon will be too. Ray, Lindsey, Jamia, Mikey. All of them. She has to visit all of them. 

She says the names over in her head again and again. She can’t afford to forget a single one of them. It would mess up  _ everything _ she’s worked for. 

She closes her eyes, sets her hands on her knees, and gets ready to send them all home. 

* * *

The first room she goes to is an empty apartment. Ryan is there. Both Ryan’s are there. They both know her, so this is the best place to start. She bows to them, smiles at them, and tells the elder Ryan that she’s proud that he’s learned from his experience. She then pets the younger Ryan,  _ her _ Ryan, on the head and they both gaze up at her, confused. 

She leaves them there for a bit. She’ll let them all go once she visits them all. 

Next, she sees to Jamia. Neither girl know her, but they don’t really need to. When she explains her place in all this, older Jamia instantly shares her thanks. She tells Nicole that she’s so  _ glad _ that she’s come here and learned what it’s like to love Lindsey. And how much she’s glad that she’ll finally be going home to her world, and that she’ll finally have the chance to be with her true love, best friendship with Frank be damned. 

She makes Nicole laugh, so Nicole promises to send a ring to propose with. 

Then she visits Lindsey. Neither girl has awoken, so she knocks on the door to Lindsey and Gerard’s empty house loudly, startling the girls awake. She gives them a few moments, instead, going to see to Spencer. Both boys are happily discussing their lives, and she’s happy for them. They know her too, so they both give her a hug, and she shares hugs with them in return. 

Older Spencer explains how happy he is that he’ll finally go home and find Jon and Ryan, and make Brendon help him make everything better again. She reminds him not to forget about dear old Dallon and he makes a promise not to. She kisses him on the cheek chastely, and leaves the duo to speak again. 

Jon is next and both of them are practically the same. They laze about and talk about nothing and everything at once. It’s endearing and he reminds her of herself. Perhaps, one day, she can teach him this. He could be her protege. They don’t exchange a lot of words with her, but they both take her hand to kiss and hug her gently, Older Jon quietly whispering a thank you in her ear. 

She then joins both Ray’s, taking pleasure in their company. Younger Ray is less hesitant in things, a little more reckless. Older Ray is much more cautious. Older Ray has learnt a lot from Younger Ray, but Younger Ray still has a lot to learn from Older Ray. She sends them off with a sweet farewell, wishing them all the best. 

She then moves on to… Brendon… Her dear son.

* * *

Lindsey is startled awake by a loud knocking, and she looks around the room in confusion. Where is she? Where is mother? She’s sick, she can’t be stuck by herself. She’s doomed if she’s by herself. 

It’s a house, she’s stuck in, but it’s a creepily empty one. She’s settled against the wall, a crick in her back and her legs feeling useless again. Great. 

Another woman is lying across the other side of the room, looking older than her but still young and pretty. Her hair is done in pigtails and her face is dusted with makeup. She’s looking straight at Lindsey as well. 

“You… what’s going on?” The woman murmurs yet Lindsey can hear it across the room. She shrugs. The woman then stands, frowning when Lindsey doesn’t follow her lead. In return, Lindsey simply lifts one of her legs with her hands and then lets it drop back to the ground uselessly. 

The woman sends her a sad look, stepping across the room and sitting next to her. 

“Hi,” she says and Lindsey gives the woman a polite smile, repeating the greeting back to her. She seems familiar for some reason. 

“I’m Lyn-z,” the woman introduces herself. 

“Lindsey.”

“I know.” Lyn-z laughs. “I’m you.”

Lindsey frowns. “What?” 

Lyn-z doesn’t answer her though, she simply looks about, smiling. 

“This is my house…”

“It is?”

“Yeah, me, Gerard, and little Bandit.” Lyn-z then looks wistful. “I can’t wait to go back, see my baby girl again…”

“Baby girl?” Lindsey frowns. “And… if you’re me… which you can’t be because that’s impossible… you… you’re married to a guy?”   
  


Lyn-z laughs, smiling brightly at her. “That’s something I need to thank you for. You… you made me realise how much I love Jamia… and how much she loves me. You helped me.”

“You’re welcome?” Lindsey runs her hands through her hair. “I don’t really get anything that’s happening now.” 

Lyn-z wraps her arm around Lindsey’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Let me tell you about the last few weeks I’ve had.” 

* * *

Brendon is curled up in the corner, frowning at the other man. He looks like him, maybe a few years older, but his hair is pulled up to expose his large forehead, which Brendon himself always goes to great lengths to hide behind his bangs. 

The other Brendon is weird. He looks sort of sad. And he looks absolutely exhausted, worn out. 

The last thing Brendon remembers is falling asleep after Ryan and him were singing to each other. God, Ryan has such a beautiful voice, Brendon just loves him to pieces. He wonders if the other Brendon has an other Ryan. It’d be sad if he didn’t. 

He should be freaking out right now, right? That’s what he’s supposed to do in this situation, isn’t he? Ryan… Ryan would be the calm and collected one. Brendon, no, Brendon is supposed to be the one freaking out, hyperventilating and crying. Yet, he’s completely calm. 

The other Brendon paces, occasionally glancing at him and visibly gulping when he confirms to himself that, yes, young Brendon is still here. 

They still haven’t said a single word to each other, but in all honesty, Brendon doesn’t care. They figured it out as soon as they woke up, but neither of them has thought to address it. It can wait. 

“Can you stop?” Brendon finally says once other Brendon makes his fifteenth trip across the empty kitchen. Other Brendon stops and stares at Brendon.  _ Young _ Brendon decides that the other guy should be called sad sack because he looks so fucking depressed. Sad sack just slowly drops to the floor in front of him, sighing shakily. 

A knock on the door startles both of them. Brendon jumps to his feet and Sad sack just stays on the ground, waiting with his head in his hands. God, now he looks even more terrified. 

Brendon opens the door to see a familiar face. And, fuck, he has never been happier to see her face than now. Maybe when he was adopted, or maybe when he hesitantly introduced her to Ryan, but it makes him so happy to see her now. 

“Mom!” He jumps Nicole, who holds him up with a surprising amount of strength. She hugs him tightly, as she always has, and then she lets herself inside the empty house, taking in Sad sack, who’s looking up at her in confusion. She smiles down at him softly. 

“Hi, Brendon.” She kneels down and runs her hands through Sad sack’s hair. He frowns, cringing away and she laughs before getting back up. 

“Oh, darlings, this isn’t your place yet. This wasn’t your lesson to learn, my dear,” she directs this at Brendon. And then she turns back to Sad sack. “And your lesson is still to be learnt. But… you’re luckily going to have help with that.”

Sad sack raises his eyebrows in confusion. She kisses his forehead softly and spins back around to hug Brendon again. 

“Sweetheart, I’ll explain everything later. Now… I have a few more people to see, and then I’ll send you back.”

Brendon slowly nods and she bids them goodbye.

Just before she closes the door, she calls out to Sad sack. “Don’t forget me… and remember Dallon. He’ll be needing your help just as much as everyone else. Perhaps more so.” 

Sad sack’s face twists into even more confusion, but he hesitantly nods.

Brendon lies down on the ground, sighing. Mom said she just had a few things to do and then she’d send them back. Back home, he assumes. But… how? What’s going on?

He’ll have to ask. He has to. 

* * *

Nicole visits Lindsey again, to find them chatting up a storm as if they’ve been friends forever. She doesn’t miss the fact that Lyn-z has her arms wrapped protectively around little Lindsey’s shoulder. Mother’s instinct, she guesses. She knows it well. 

* * *

“You’re Frank’s mom…” The blond slowly says. Mikey frowns. Who’s Frank?

The woman in the doorway smiles at both of them. 

“Yes. I know you’ve only met me once, dear Michael, but…”

“You’re the one who did this.” The blond quickly interrupts. She nods. 

“Yes.” 

She then enters the room, sitting down beside Mikey. Mikey, in turn, shuffles over towards the blond. 

“I was coming here to explain, but I’m pretty sure you guys have figured it out. So I’ll just say this. Good luck, both of you. And… this isn’t the last time I will see either of you.” 

The blond crosses his arms. “But… you’re apart of  _ his _ world.”

“Not always. Jumping realities is a little exhausting, but it’s my job. To sort things out.” 

“Teach lessons.”

“Yes.” She stands up, holding her hand out to Mikey, who reluctantly takes it and shakes. She then does the same with the blond, who rolls his eyes when she’s not looking. Mikey uses all his will power to stifle a laugh. 

“You’ll go back soon, boys. Make the most of the time you have left together.” 

Before he can ask, she’s gone. He still whispers his question anyway. “Will, I ever see him again?”

The blond sits next to him, rubbing his back gently. “One day you might see me staring back at you in the mirror. Maybe not. But… I’m you, so I’m pretty sure we’re the same, dude. I’ll always be here.”

Mikey laughs. “When did we become so wise?”

“Fuck if I know.”

* * *

Frank happily hugs Nicole, a friendly and familiar presence that he’s needing right now. The stranger, who claims to be  _ Frank Iero _ , hasn’t even twitched. Nicole shakes her head when she sees him. 

“God, this must be so confusing for both of you.” She then laughs. “I’ll explain when we get home, sweetheart. I think it’s better  _ he _ -” She gestures at the stranger. “-gets home. I’m pretty sure there’s a few surprises waiting there for him.” 

The stranger hasn’t moved. Frank notes that he has tattoos on his knuckles,  _ ween _ and  _ hallo _ . Halloween. Wow. His birthday. 

“You’ll go back soon, sweetheart. I’ve just got Gerard to speak to.”

The stranger jumps to his feet. 

Okay… Frank can see it now. That is him… from another universe. No one else would jump up that quickly at that name aside from probably Mikey. 

“Gerard!”

Nicole smiles at him. “It’s alright, darling. He’s okay. You’ll see him soon.” 

He scowls at her but before he can reach out and demand answers, she’s gone. Frank sends him a helpless shrug and the stranger huffs before sitting down. 

* * *

Gerard jumps as the door opens, but the redhead holds him steady, looking up himself. 

“Nicole?” The redhead asks, confused. “You’re behind this?”

“I am…”

“Why?” The redhead hums finally, head tilted. 

“You know why. You both do.” She nods her head to them. “I am sending you back. You both have much to learn, but you’ve learnt so much from each other. And you know that, don’t you.” 

The redhead smiles at her with all his little teeth. Gerard finds himself giving her a slightly dimmer smile. 

“Now… go get your boys, both of you.” She then slams the door harshly. The redhead wraps his arms around Gerard, seemingly sleepy. Gerard feels sort of the same. He rests his head on the redhead’s shoulder, eyelids drooping. 

“See you later, Gerard,” the redhead whispers. 

“Bye…”

* * *

Frank awakes in his bunk with a start. Fuck. That was a weird dream. There was this woman and him, but not like, actually him. It was teenage him, but more like the one out of their I’m Not Okay music video than what he really looked like in his teenage years. It was freaky. 

It felt so real too. 

He runs his hands over his face, suppressing a yawn, and slides the curtain across, jumping up out of his bunk. Light filters through the window and he gets a sense of Deja Vu, making him frown. He’s not even sure why. 

No one is awake yet, despite the fact that its past noon. He makes himself a cup of coffee, waiting for the smell to rouse at least one of the Way brothers. 

He gets a response in the form of a loud shout. He cringes as the sound meets his ears, setting his mug down and walking over to Gerard’s bunk, where the sound had come from. The guy is awake, with wide eyes and shaky breaths. 

“Bad dream?” Frank asks softly. Gerard laughs a little. 

“Not… bad…” He slides out of the bunk, landing firmly. He then pours himself a cup of coffee, but instead of inhaling the thing, like he usually does, he sips it slowly. “It was nice…”

Frank smiles at him. No matter the fact that Gerard doesn’t really love him back, that they’re both with their respective wives, that they’re  _ happy _ , he’s still infatuated with Gerard. He can’t help it. 

They stand there in silence for a moment before Mikey springs out of bed, grabs Gerard, and clutches him tight. Gerard lets him, setting down his cup and hugging back gently. Frank simply raises an eyebrow at the younger brother’s sudden display of affection. Nightmare, maybe?

Gerard whispers softly in Mikey’s ear and Mikey smiles one of his rare smiles that makes everything ten times better. Mikey then rushes off, without a drop of caffeine in his system, and jumps Ray, who hugs him back, laughing. 

Frank raises his other eyebrow. 

“What’s up with him?”

Gerard simply gives him a knowing smile. It confuses Frank even more. And then he calls out. 

“I call best man!” 

And Mikey shouts back. “Fucking obviously, you dumbass.”

Frank thinks for a minute, listening to Gerard giggle and Mikey laugh and Ray chuckle. And then he turns back to Gerard and blinks. 

“Okay, what the fuck is going on?”

Gerard snorts, actually snorts, and bites his lip, trying to keep a cheeky smile down. “Nothing… it’s just that Mikey is getting married…” 

Frank’s eyes widen. “Since when?!”

“Yesterday…”

Frank chokes. “To who?”

Mikey hops up from his spot by Ray’s bunk, the curly-haired man following behind. Frank looks downwards, and finally, he sees Mikey’s fingers interlocked with Ray’s. Oh… 

“Wait… what?”

Gerard giggles again. Mikey taps Gerard on the shoulder, whispering something, and then leads Ray out of the bus, the door swinging closed behind him. Frank’s mouth is dry and he’s shaking. Because, honestly, what the fuck is going on? 

“Ray and Mikey?” Frank softly whispers and Gerard nods. 

“Yep.”

“Why are you acting like this isn’t surprising?”

“Because it isn’t…” Gerard swipes up his mug from the bench again and takes a slow gulp. “I’ve suspected for quite a while, actually. Been waiting for one of them to grow the balls to ask the other out. I’m guessing all that happened behind my back because all I got last night was a call from Mikey telling me that Ray proposed.”

“There wasn’t a ring on his finger.”

“No…” Gerard hops up on the counter, sipping his coffee once more. “I’m guessing it was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”

“Sounds like something you’d do,” Frank mutters bitterly. Gerard looks unsure and then he places his mug down again, placing his hand on Frank’s head and running his fingers through the shorter male’s hair. Giggles rattle through his chest as he smiles down at him and Frank scowls. 

“Oh, Frankie.”   
  


“Frankie…?” Frank raises his eyebrows, stepping back slightly. Gerard hasn’t called him that in years. Gerard swings his legs from the counter, throwing his hands down on Frank’s shoulders and pulling him closer. All Frank can do is look up at the guy. 

“Oh, well… Lindsey and Jamia are okay with this, aren’t they…” Gerard seems to contemplate something before his lips are suddenly on Frank’s. Frank is in so much shock that he forgets to kiss back. By the time he thinks of doing so, Gerard’s already pulled away, hopped down from the counter, and is now standing in front of him. 

“I know you still love me…”

Wait… how? How did he… did Frank not hide it well enough? Was he way too obvious? He thought he was doing well, suppressing his lustful thoughts of his best friend. 

“Wha-”

Gerard presses a finger to his lips. Frank takes it as a sign to shut the fuck up. 

“They both gave their permission for this, Frank. We’re not  _ cheating _ . No more than they are.” Gerard moves forward, placing his hands on Frank’s hips and pulling him closer again. “So… I wanted to offer you something…”

Frank wants to pull away, wants to ask Gerard to stop playing games. To stop playing with his heart. He wants to go back before today when everything seemed to change. But… he can’t. He can’t pull away, he can’t bring himself to part with Gerard. 

“Offer me something…?” He whispers, the bitterness and anger subtly working their way into his voice. 

“Yes!” Gerard smiles, removing his hands from Frank’s sides. “Now… I know this isn’t quite legitimate, you know, rings and all.” As he says this, he works on removing his wedding ring from his finger. “But… all those technicalities can be worked out later. We’ll do everything proper, you know, but this… I can’t put this off again.”

Frank stares, wide-eyed, as Gerard lowers himself to the ground, one knee resting on the stained carpet of the bus. He then grins up at Frank. 

“Alright… well… I’ve been thinking of how to say this to you for a little while… So… this is very long overdue, and that’s my fault. I just… I love you, Frank.”

Frank splutters at that, but Gerard isn’t finished. 

“I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my fucking life with you, however long that might be.” Gerard reaches out and takes Frank’s hand, using his thumb and index finger to twist the little ring off Frank’s left hand. “I made a mistake, and I want to make up for it now. So… when we finally can… Will you, Frank Anthony Iero Jr., make me, Gerard Arthur Way, the happiest person on earth, and marry me?”

Frank is frozen. He can’t breathe. He doesn’t even notice the tears leaking from his eyes as he can’t take them off Gerard’s hopeful, pleading face. Is this… is this real? 

“You’re not joking, are you?” Frank bites his lip, praying he doesn’t say yes. 

“Never,” Gerard says with such determination that Frank immediately lowers himself to the redhead’s level. 

“Then… yes… yes, I will.”

Gerard’s lips spread into the brightest smile Frank has ever seen. Butterflies fill his stomach but his chest feels clear, and as he wipes away tears, he feels pure happiness. Whatever happened, he’s still not sure. He has no idea what changed, but he’s glad it has. Because Ray and Mikey are getting married, and soon enough, so will him and Gerard. He’s not sure what they’re going to do about their wives, but Gerard had seemed sure about what he was doing. 

“What about Jamia... and Lindsey?”

Gerard laughs ever so softly. 

“They don’t need us, Frank. They have each other.”

Frank decides not to question it. Instead, he tackles Gerard onto the floor and kisses him right on the lips, like he’s been wanting to do for months… no... years. Gerard smiles into the kiss. 

“Thank you,” Gerard whispers. Frank doesn’t know who his message is for, but he feels it’s not his place to ask. “Thank you so much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope the ending was satisfying enough for you peeps. sorry it took so long.
> 
> thank you to everyone who read this. thank you to the people encouraging me to continue this. just... thank you :) 
> 
> i may write a piece accompanying this, but only if i get truly inspired


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